There is a
story in the Sports Card Daily that is a perfect example of a scammer ripping
off a naïve collector. The scammer has been grabbed and is awaiting trial, but
as I re-read the story something additional caught my attention.
What
happened is Thomas Martin Beatty Jr. from Omaha, Nebraska was selling four
cards; a 1952 Topps Mantle, a 1957 Topps Mantle, a 1957-58 Topps Bill Russell
and a 1965 Topps Joe Namath, on eBay last year and eventually made a deal with
a buyer out of Massachusetts last August for $117,500 for all four cards. The buyer
paid through wire transfer and Beatty sent the cards through the USPS. This is
information that is all fact. Now on to the troubling part.
In the end it
turned out that all four cards were reprints and Beatty was knowingly selling
them as original and graded cards. The US Attorney’s office got involved and an
investigation was done and during the investigation the authorities found that
Beatty had more than $2,000 in counterfeit bills in his home. He has been
charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and
possession of counterfeit money. I do not know how the US Attorney's office got involved.
I have two questions;
first, how as it that the buyer purchased original and graded cards without
knowing? Unless the grading company was
a fly by night (looking at you GMA) who couldn’t tell the difference or the
flips from a PSA or BGS was fake. If I were spending $117k on four graded cards
you can be certain I am going to verify each cert # to make sure it is listed,
and it is the same card that PSA or BGS has in their registry.
Second, how
long do you think he will get? I looked in to it and this guy is going to do
serious time all for selling reprint cards as original cards.
Mail fraud
is up to $1 million in fines and/or 30 years in prison
Wire fraud
is up to $250k fines and/or 20 years in prison
Possessing counterfeit
money is up to $250k fines and/or 20 years in prison
Money
laundering is up to $500k fine and/or 20 years in prison
+1 if you got the Office Space reference in the title.
I wouldn't be dropping 117K on any 4 cards period. Even if I had it.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I'm at the point where I want the guy to get gang raped in prison, but I hope he serves long enough to learn from his mistake and come out a better human being with a second chance in life. However... if the guy happens to be a career criminal who has done stuff like this before... them maybe he needs to experience a nice pounding.
ReplyDeleteJust think how many subscriptions to Vibe you could get with $117K? A whole lot more than 40.
ReplyDelete