$1.3 Million in cards stolen from Buffalo, NY area store

[t206wagner]

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/dave-adams-employees-plead-guilty-1-3-million-theft/

[7nohitter]

Wow...15 years for some cardboard? No thanks!

[bobbyw8469]

15 years for 1.3 million seems kind of light?

[ValKehl]

15 years is the max they could receive - call me a pessimist, I doubt they will receive a sentence anywhere near this lengthy.
Val

[vthobby]

Dave and Adam's have always been good to me and I feel the pain. That is an incredible scheme that not only affected D & A but their honest employees as well.

When they first started in Buffalo, I would send them tons of Buffalo Sabres commons and stars and Buffalo Bills cards and they always paid very fairly which was a big help to my little Vermont sportscard store.

Thank you guys if you are on here and hope for the best in your re-building effort after this loss.

peace, mike

[Rollingstone206]

...

[Paul S]

I wonder what time period those cards walked out of the store... 1.3M is a lot of cards/inventory!

'Between January 1, 2013 and July 17, 2014, Hollars stole over $800,000, Martone stole over $100,000 and Woods stole over $400,000'

[BobbyVCP]

Sounds fishy to me, 1.3 Million over what 500 days that means they are taking out over $2000 of inventory a day. You would think that it would take them less then a month to realize something was seriously wrong in that store. And it's not like the store is loaded with high end vintage material. The report showed a lot of jerseys and most likely newer cards. So they would basically have to fill up a truck every day with merchandise.

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Sounds fishy to me, 1.3 Million over what 500 days that means they are taking out over $2000 of inventory a day. You would think that it would take them less then a month to realize something was seriously wrong in that store. And it's not like the store is loaded with high end vintage material. The report showed a lot of jerseys and most likely newer cards. So they would basically have to fill up a truck ever day with merchandise.

Bobby,

I was thinking the same thing - especially when you have to file income tax reports on a quarterly basis, one would think the bookkeeper would have figured something wasn't adding up rather quickly.

Of course when insurance is involved, those 1989 Donruss baseball boxes are now suddenly worth $300 each. ;)

[jhs5120]

Sounds fishy to me, 1.3 Million over what 500 days that means they are taking out over $2000 of inventory a day. You would think that it would take them less then a month to realize something was seriously wrong in that store. And it's not like the store is loaded with high end vintage material. The report showed a lot of jerseys and most likely newer cards. So they would basically have to fill up a truck every day with merchandise.

There are multiple stores (which could explain why it wasn't noticed immediately) and they stole modern unopened boxes and cases.

Those things can go for a couple grand a pop. I think one of the articles said that they were taking entire pallets of some items! I would imagine a pallet of some of that new high-end crap can go for five figures..

On a side note, I'm shocked that this business was able to stay open with essentially an extra $1.3 million in losses! I'm sure this next year will be a very very very good one by comparison.

[Rollingstone206]

...

[Enfuego]

the individuals charged were the same folks I would see when I bought stuff from there's, what a shame.

[EvilKing00]

I wonder what they took?

[Nikpounder]

Posted elsewhere online:

It was a computer software flaw that, in the words of the business’ co-owner, turned into “a license to steal” for three employees who took baseball, football and hockey trading cards worth $1.3 million. The $1.3 million represents the retail value of the boxes of cards the three employees stole and does not include any money they made from selling the most valuable of the cards on eBay.

The three who worked at Dave and Adam’s Card World exploited the flaw that let them buy a single box of sports trading cards on a credit card and then purchase additional boxes without being charged.

“They could have been human beings and told us about it, but instead they decided to become criminals,” said Adam Martin, co-owner of the Town of Tonawanda-based trading card company. "If they had come forward and told the company about the flaw, they would have received big bonuses", he said.

But now they face up to 15 years in prison. The three men – Aaron Hollars, 31, of West Seneca; Anthony Martone, 30, of Amherst; and David Woods, 25, of Williamsville – pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny this week in Erie County Court, according to District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.

The trading card company, which started in 1991, will survive thanks to its online sales, Martin said. “If we had only our retail stores, this would have bankrupted us,” Martin said.

But the losses have set back the company. Six employees were laid off. And holiday bonuses the company gives its nearly 70 employees will not be as big.

“These three employees did this without considering how it would affect other employees,” Martin said.

The crime happened over an 18-month period between January 2013 and this July, prosecutors said. The three offenders worked as managers or assistant managers, rotating among the company’s four retail stores in Clarence, the Town of Tonawanda, Orchard Park and Niagara Falls. Hollars discovered the flaw that allowed him to buy a single box of sports trading cards on his credit card, then purchase additional boxes without being charged.

“He decided it was a license to steal,” Martin said.

Hollars told the two others about the flaw one night while they were out drinking, Martin said. All of the stolen boxes contained sports trading cards, mostly of baseball, football and hockey players. Hollars stole more than $800,000 in cards, while Martone got more than $100,000, and Woods collected more than $400,000, prosecutors said.

“It’s very discouraging,” Martin said. “They were close to us. We treated them well.”

Martin said he does not know how many cards the suspects sold on eBay or how much money they obtained from those sales. The theft was discovered earlier this summer when company officials noticed that the amount of money they should have received from credit card sales fell far short of what they got, resulting in losses. The three are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 8 by Erie County Judge Kenneth F. Case.

[thetruthisoutthere]

If anyone here communicates with Dave & Adam's Card World, can you please inform them the below Mantle/Williams sigs they have listed on Ebay are forgeries.

I have attempted to contact them but to no avail.....


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mickey-Mantle-Ted-Williams-Autographed-Official-MLB-Baseball-Scoreboard-/371172140634?ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

[Leon]

If anyone here communicates with Dave & Adam's Card World, can you please inform them the below Mantle/Williams sigs they have listed on Ebay are forgeries.

I have attempted to contact them but to no avail.....


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mickey-Mantle-Ted-Williams-Autographed-Official-MLB-Baseball-Scoreboard-/371172140634?ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

If the Mantle is a forgery( and I do believe you Chris ) then it's a smudged forgery. Very clever :).....

[thetruthisoutthere]

If the Mantle is a forgery( and I do believe you Chris ) then it's a smudged forgery. Very clever :).....

Yes, Leon, both are poorly-executed and slowly-penned forgeries.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

15 years is the max they could receive - call me a pessimist, I doubt they will receive a sentence anywhere near this lengthy.
Val
Agreed. How many years did Ken Lay get for Enron?

[asoriano]

Agreed. How many years did Ken Lay get for Enron?

I think he passed away prior to sentencing. Skilling, on the other hand, received 15+ years if I remember correctly.

[1952boyntoncollector]

how you know that mantle is a forgery..what is the tell tale sign for future reference..

[insccollectibles]

I think he passed away prior to sentencing. Skilling, on the other hand, received 15+ years if I remember correctly.

A little off topic but Lou Pai Enron former employee actually got away with it.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5411422

TLDR: Lou Pai is a former Enron executive who cashed out $270 million in stock and left the company right before it collapsed, divorced his wife, married an exotic dancer, bought an enormous piece of Colorado, sold it and then disappeared into obscurity.