Originally Posted by Eric72 (Post 2437431)

• There was a card show in Strongsville, Ohio earlier this year
• There is a Best Western Plus located near the card show venue
• Memory Lane shipped 54 high-value cards via FedEx to that BW+
• A ML employee arrived at the BW+ about 3 days after the cards arrived
• At some point during those 3 days, the cards went missing
• Despite the fact they couldn't locate the cards, ML decided to let the auction run its course, notifying only a minimum of people
• 52 of the 54 cards were recovered roughly a month later
• An employee of BW+ had quit his job shortly after the cards went missing
• That employee has been arrested in connection with the missing cards

This (nearly) 1,000 post thread contains numerous opinions, egos, and insults. It also has some other details. However, the info above is a decent recap.

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg (Post 2437499)

Is it a fact they couldn't locate the cards? Isn't it possible the police knew or suspected where the cards were and were waiting to make the bust?

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by parkplace33 (Post 2437498)

For anyone who won one of the cards that were stolen, were you able to purchase that card? I think only one member has said they won one of the stolen cards.
I do hope the two missing cards show up soon.

Originally Posted by JollyElm (Post 2436812)

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman (Post 2437507)

At least two, posts #29 and #931.

Originally Posted by mkskillz013 (Post 2437263)

Well, I was aware of net54 for years from a distance and stumbled onto this thread when looking for information about the theft. I kept abreast by reading all 900 posts (many of which felt like old lawyers trying to prove who’s smarter), and frankly found all of the information I needed. Then I go to check the pop on the cards they found, only to annoyingly see them deactivated. I asked a simple (maybe naive to some) question in here and was met by a variety of sarcasm. Obviously I could ask PSA, but I’m also bound to get a faster (and probably as accurate) answer here. All good, enjoy your next 30,000 posts…I’m probably done at 3.

p.s. don’t be so quick to alienate…your family will need people to buy all this stuff when you kick the bucket.

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51 (Post 2437605)

Had a good laugh at this one - far too many people have been chased away from this forum by a bunch of old men yelling at clouds

Originally Posted by ALBB (Post 2437641)

it seems if the guy was a bit smarter about it, he could have possibly gotten away with it

Would have to had sit on the cards for years, obviously break them out of holders, maybe give the cards a little nick/crease/ writing mark, etc, finally go to an " out of state" show..maybe one card at a time with the " line" I have the old card..looking to trade it... possibly could be done

Originally Posted by ALBB (Post 2437641)

it seems if the guy was a bit smarter about it, he could have possibly gotten away with it

Would have to had sit on the cards for years, obviously break them out of holders, maybe give the cards a little nick/crease/ writing mark, etc, finally go to an " out of state" show..maybe one card at a time with the " line" I have the old card..looking to trade it... possibly could be done

Originally Posted by Mark17 (Post 2437656)

Quitting his job at the Best Western Plus was a huge red flag. Who in their right mind would do that unless they had a couple mil in assets socked away.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth (Post 2436656)

o further their alleged fraud scheme, Curcio ordered several items necessary to create forged card cases and labels to pass off the cards as graded, court documents allege.

They included plastic holders, thermal transfer barcode labels, a magnifier loupe optical glass, a handheld inkjet printer, a lock-cutting kit, an electric grinding pen, an abrasive buffer and polishing wheel, an abrasive and bristle brushes and drill bits designed for engraving, prosecutors said.

“Anthony Curcio and Iosif Bondarchuk carried out a brazen, nationwide fraud scheme involving valuable sports and Pokémon trading cards to deceive buyers and marketplaces, ultimately amassing over $2 million in fraudulent and attempted sales,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “Curcio and Bondarchuk allegedly sold and tried to sell at inflated prices cards of various professional athletes, including, among others, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Nolan Ryan, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, and Magic Johnson, as well as various valuable Pokémon cards.

Hmmmm.. I bet it's a lot more than $2 million if it went on for years.

Originally Posted by KingFisk (Post 2437666)

Is this the same guy who robbed a Brinks truck about 15 years ago? Same name but allegedly had cleaned up his act. However same age, same state as this fellow.

Originally Posted by Carter08 (Post 2437688)

I think so. Made a side living giving inspirational speeches about learning from mistakes.

Originally Posted by ALBB (Post 2437641)

it seems if the guy was a bit smarter about it, he could have possibly gotten away with it

Would have to had sit on the cards for years, obviously break them out of holders, maybe give the cards a little nick/crease/ writing mark, etc, finally go to an " out of state" show..maybe one card at a time with the " line" I have the old card..looking to trade it... possibly could be done

Originally Posted by Kco (Post 2437888)

All he realistically would've needed was an unethical buyer with a deep wallet, its akin to stolen art, even if said buyer paid 20 cents on the dollar for the cards and knew they were stolen and couldn't really advertise they owned them, they get a bunch of monster cards for virtually free.

Originally Posted by 4815162342 (Post 2438172)

Update: Man Accused of Stealing $2.1 Million in Cards in Court; 2nd Arrest ‘Expected’

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...-jacob-paxton/

Originally Posted by Mark17 (Post 2438392)

In life, we sometimes come to a proverbial fork in the road, when the next decision we make sends our life down a particular path.

Despite a no questions asked reward being offered, the cards remained missing. Paxton is now facing a charge that could result in a lengthy jail sentence.

Originally Posted by Mark17 (Post 2438392)

In life, we sometimes come to a proverbial fork in the road, when the next decision we make sends our life down a particular path.

Despite a no questions asked reward being offered, the cards remained missing. Paxton is now facing a charge that could result in a lengthy jail sentence.

Originally Posted by 4815162342 (Post 2439225)

Update: Second Man Arrested in $2.1 Million Card Theft

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...on-card-theft/

Originally Posted by Casey2296 (Post 2439226)

Dude needs to tighten up that beard for his perp shot if he ever wants a chance for a cameo on "Americas dumbest criminals".

Props to the Strongsville Police for a job well done, I bet if they go Abu Ghraib on Paxton for the other two cards and he'll fold like a cheap card table, leading to a 3rd arrest.

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards (Post 2439267)

It's weird I assumed he had just managed to unload two cards and would gladly tell the police to whom he sold them (as opposed to a third conspirator) to try and show cooperation at this point. I figured they'd be back in hand in a few days.

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards (Post 2439267)

It's weird I assumed he had just managed to unload two cards and would gladly tell the police to whom he sold them (as opposed to a third conspirator) to try and show cooperation at this point. I figured they'd be back in hand in a few days.

Originally Posted by Mark17 (Post 2439410)

Maybe he sold them to random people at the show (non-table holders) and doesn't know who they were.

Originally Posted by wayne97 (Post 2439865)

For the lawyers in the group--Won't the cards be held in evidence until after the trial is completed

Originally Posted by wayne97 (Post 2439865)

For the lawyers in the group--Won't the cards be held in evidence until after the trial is completed

Originally Posted by sportscardpete (Post 2431935)

This doesn’t make sense, why would ML keep an auction running if the items were stolen? Something doesn’t add up.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth (Post 2440759)

1000 posts in, and you're responding months later to one on the first page which has been discussed in literally hundreds of subseqauent posts? Sorry, but :confused:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards (Post 2439887)

I'm not a lawyer either, but what would the actual physical cards prove as evidence as long as there is an incontrovertible record of when and how they were recovered?

Since ML has started shipping them I'm guessing no.

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards (Post 2439887)

I'm not a lawyer either, but what would the actual physical cards prove as evidence as long as there is an incontrovertible record of when and how they were recovered?

Since ML has started shipping them I'm guessing no.

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss (Post 2440824)

Update on my end - I have been paid 100% for my consignments, including the t204 Ramly Johnson that is still missing.

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss (Post 2440824)

Update on my end - I have been paid 100% for my consignments, including the t204 Ramly Johnson that is still missing.

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss (Post 2440824)

Update on my end - I have been paid 100% for my consignments, including the t204 Ramly Johnson that is still missing.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth (Post 2440792)

Where did the information come from that they had started shipping?

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss (Post 2440824)

Update on my end - I have been paid 100% for my consignments, including the t204 Ramly Johnson that is still missing.

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards (Post 2440910)

apparently a bad source...

Originally Posted by parkplace33 (Post 2440915)

So wait, have they shipped these cards yet? I am confused.

And did anyone on this board who "purchased" one of these cards actually buy and receive the card?

Originally Posted by Lorewalker (Post 2440934)

Ummm...start with post 992. Nothing to be confused about.

Originally Posted by raulus (Post 2440938)

But what if the insurance company required that the cards be shipped? In spite of the fact that the police still had them in custody??

Originally Posted by brianp-beme (Post 2440942)

Brian (just wanted to get back in on this 4 digit post thread)

Originally Posted by biocrn (Post 2440954)

you joke, but reading this thread counts for 3 credit hours in pre-law programs at many prestigious universities.

Originally Posted by Lorewalker (Post 2440934)

Ummm...start with post 992. Nothing to be confused about.

Originally Posted by Beercan collector (Post 2447722)

Bumping this because I’m interested in what’s gonna happen to these dingbats .
According to the link Jayshum Posted (above) they go back to court tomorrow

Originally Posted by Beercan collector (Post 2449779)

cannot find any follow up on this -
Was even hoping for updates on the Ted Williams and Ramly Johnson .
Perhaps I’m expecting too much (?)
guess once an arrest is made the stories over

Originally Posted by raulus (Post 2449780)

Which updates are you hoping to learn about? Prison sentence for the perps? Just what happened to the last 2 cards? Whether buyers actually completed their purchases?

Does seem like sellers got paid, so there's that.

Originally Posted by Beercan collector (Post 2449812)

Yep all that stuff.
Of course My thinking any collector would be curious about this isn’t the first assumption of mine thats been off .
Oh well not terribly important anyway .. I guess

Originally Posted by raulus (Post 2449818)

I don't think we've heard anything on the last 2 cards, although it's possible that I'm just out of the loop.

I suspect the trial for the perps will take some time, even if they go with a plea bargain. So pack your patience there.

While it's anybody's guess whether the buyers actually consummated their purposes once the cards were found, I would guess that the vast preponderance did. But maybe if one of the stolen cards re-appears in the next ML auction, that could be a sign that the high bidder decided to pass. Either that or they've just decided to try to flip it to cash in on the notoriety of the case.

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards (Post 2465426)

were the two missing cards ever recovered?

Originally Posted by theshowandme (Post 2465432)

Not yet

Which led to an all time quote from the prosecutor

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c8279ffde4.jpg

Originally Posted by uniship (Post 2465522)

How in THE HELL did the four Dallas scumbag thieves cocksuckers - all visible on camera- get away with that theft?? Blows my mind.

Originally Posted by Yoda (Post 2465832)

I am curious how the ML consignors on the stolen cards and the insurance carrier reached a payment valuation, eg.the T204 Johnson. Was the policy written on an agreed amount and all cards scheduled with pix and registration numbers? Or on past auction results detailed in VDP. Obviously the insurer and consignor reached some kind of valuation provision before the policy was issued.

Originally Posted by Snowman (Post 2465919)

Did it even get to that point? I doubt it would have.

Originally Posted by raulus (Post 2449780)

Which updates are you hoping to learn about? Prison sentence for the perps? Just what happened to the last 2 cards? Whether buyers actually completed their purchases?

Does seem like sellers got paid, so there's that.

Originally Posted by parkplace33 (Post 2468164)

We are over 5 months since this heist, and there is still one thing that has been bothering me about this whole situation (besides the two missing cards, which is very unfortunate):

For those that won one of these recovered cards in the ML auction, where you ever able to buy that card from ML? I believe we have a few board members that won these cards, but I don't have confirmation that the sale went through or were offered the chance to buy the card. Or did miss that in one of the 1000 posts on this thread?

Originally Posted by tjisonline (Post 2468166)

yes.

Originally Posted by Snowman (Post 2465537)

Something tells me you didn't watch that video closely enough.