Authorities in New York charged two Washington men Thursday over a scheme to defraud sports and Pokémon card collectors out of $2 million by giving them fake high-grade ratings.The scheme, stretching over two years, saw the pair inflate the prices of collectable cards featuring athletes like Michael Jordan and Tom Brady, as well as valuable Pokemon characters.At one point, a card featuring Jordan was sold for around $171,000 when it was actually worth between $6,000 and $7,000.
The pair sold or offered multiple cards over the two years, including in-person at card shows, auctions and collectables stores.When victims caught on to what they were doing and complained, the pair reportedly feigned ignorance and issued a refund, before attempting to sell the same card to someone else.One such card was a 1999 Pokémon Venusaur card, which the pair sold to an undercover law enforcement officer in July 2023 for $10,500.