OH, YES!

Wolfgang Maier continues to undermine the reputation of the publication that provides him with a living.

In the latest supplement, he continues to pronounce on the legality of stamps, this time for Chad, that have been produced under contract to the Postal Administration, and excludes them from the "catalogue" as illegals.

Describing this publication as a catalogue should be examined under the Trades Description Act since this so-called "catalogue" increasingly resembles a work of fiction.

He takes a number of illegal stamps denounced by the Director General of the Chad Postal Administration and lists them with legitimate stamps produced under contract. What possible motive could he have for this? Is someone paying him to take this malicious action?

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This conclusion is unavoidable because we have been informed that the Chad Post Office requested that their representative, M. Lamine Ramadane, be allowed to attend the Philex France'99 exhibition as an observer on the France Philatelie stand...

...and while he was there he was stamping cancellations on philatelic passports for visitors to the exhibition!

What kind of fool thinks that an official representative of the Postal Administration would stand at an exhibition stand cancelling "vignettes"?

The Wolfgang Maier kind of fool, that's who!

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Yes, France Philatelie is the company that was responsible for the production of the stamps featuring "The Beatles", "Elvis Presley", "International Stamp Exhibition PHILEXFRANCE '99, Paris", "Millennium", "Film Actors", "Musicians" and "Painters" which Mr. Maier brands as illegal in his supplement.

All these stamps were produced under legal contracts with the Chad Post Office and with the active involvement of the highest officials in the Chad Post Office.

This is self-evident when you examine the wealth of documentation and correspondence between France Philatelie and the Chad Post Office.

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So why on earth would a representative of the Chad Postal Administration be present on their exhibition stand where stamps that Mr. Maier describes as "illegal" were on display and for sale?

Is Mr. Maier accusing the Chad Post Office of criminal action, of producing illegal stamps? Is Mr. Maier the person who decides how a Postal Administration produces it's postage stamps?

If he is, then why is he happy to include the stamps of his good friend Sako Khatchikian (Impressor S.A.), a man who has been pursued through the courts by Postal Administrations and paper suppliers alike for his criminal activity?

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Idiot

As well as denouncing legal stamps as illegal Mr. Maier is happy to issue pronouncements on court cases he knows nothing about.

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Reading what he has written, his remarks are so idiotic we are only assuming it is the work of Mr. Maier and not the work of a small child.

The case he cites, against Mr Marino Montero, revolved around a perceived "insult" allegedly visited on the incumbent Director General of the ONPE Mme. Talfi Maimouna by Mr Montero (see Niger Stamp Scandal).The case was a malicious prosecution without foundation, did not have anything to do with illegal stamps and was brought to court without notifying Mr. Montero. He was "sentenced" in his absence, and the whole proceeding was purely for publicity.

As even a half-wit (and we hope that Mr. Maier has at least half a wit) can see from the documents, Mr. Montero more than adequately demonstrates that he had a legal contract with the postal adminstration of Niger to manufacture, issue and market stamps on behalf of the ONPE.

Once again the UPU jumped at the chance to harm the reputation of a legitimate stamp dealer by issuing one of it's ludicrous "circulars" on the word of a suspect official.

Naturally, Mr. Maier seizes the opportunity to misinterpret what little information he has to his advantage, promoting his catalogue as a "reliable tool for the philatelist", and deliberately ignore the vast bulk of documentation which proves him hopelessly wrong.

How can the Michel catalogue be considered a reliable tool if it takes this attitude towards legitimate stamp issues yet contains entries for labels printed by Impressor S.A.?

If the Michel catalogue wants to be reliable it must be consistent. It cannot pick and chooose which stamps are listed based on whether the issuer is a friend of Mr. Maier.

The sooner Mr. Maier goes, the better for the world of philately and the Michel catalogue. Then it can try to restore it's tarnished reputation.

We are reliably informed that a prosecution for libel against Mr. Maier and the Michel catalogue is imminent and unlike the UPU they do not have diplomatic immunity.

As Mr. Maier continues to abuse his position with the Michel catalogue, stamp-scandal.com will bring all the details of these abuses to the attention of our readers. Who is paying, who is a friend of Maier, who is producing the illegal stamps - no-one is safe from our investigations.