In a surprising turn of events in the world of collectibles, two Washington State men have found themselves in hot water over an alleged scam involving graded sports and Pokémon cards. Anthony Curcio, 43, from Redmond, and Iosif Bondarchuk, 37, from Lake Stevens, were recently arrested and charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, accused of duping buyers out of more than $2 million.
The duo’s scheme reportedly revolved around manipulating the grading of sports and Pokémon cards to deceive unsuspecting collectors. They are said to have replaced lower-grade cards with counterfeit high-grade PSA 10 specimens, significantly inflating the market value of these items. One of their most notable sales was a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card, which was falsely represented as gem mint and fetched a hefty sum of $171,000 on an online platform in Manhattan. However, the selling platform, MySlabs, later uncovered the fraud and promptly alerted PSA and law enforcement authorities.
Their deceitful practices extended beyond sports cards to include Pokémon items. For instance, a 1999 first-edition Venusaur card purported to be PSA 10 was sold for $10,500 to an undercover officer in Manhattan. This incident sheds light on the lengths to which Curcio and Bondarchuk allegedly went to defraud buyers at various venues, from small card shops to online auctions.
When suspicions arose regarding the authenticity of their purchases, Bondarchuk reportedly resorted to providing bogus contact information, attributing it to unrelated parties as a diversion tactic. If found guilty, the accused could each face a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, demonstrating the severity of their alleged crimes.
The investigation into this fraudulent operation was a joint effort between the FBI and PSA’s Brand Protection division, underscoring the commitment to safeguarding collectors and maintaining the integrity of the trading card market. This case serves as a cautionary tale, reminding individuals of the importance of due diligence when partaking in the collectibles market and deterring others from engaging in similar deceitful activities.
