A Colorado man faces charges for selling counterfeit sports trading cards, including fake 1986 rookie Fleer Michael Jordan cards, for $800,000 in cash and trades, federal officials say.
McClatchy News
A Colorado man faces federal charges that he sold or traded counterfeit sports cards to people across the United States, federal prosecutors reported.
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The 82-year-old man arrested in Denver reaped $800,000 from the fraudulent transactions, a March 8 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said.
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“Protection from fraud extends to all consumers, regardless of what team they root for,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in the release.
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The man faces a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
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Prosecutors say he misrepresented the cards, including prized 1986 Fleer rookie Michael Jordan cards, as authentic when they were in fact counterfeit, the release said.
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The rookie Jordan cards can sell for thousands of dollars, according to online listings.
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He sold the fake cards from April 2015 to July 2019 to people he found online and through online selling platforms, prosecutors said.
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