The fraudster who escaped with almost Goods worth $10,000 from a SoHo trading card store owned by football legend Tom Brady, he visited the store three times on the day of the theft and may have committed similar scams in Brooklyn and Tennessee, police said Thursday.
The first visit to the Lafayette Street store occurred shortly before noon on Oct. 20, when the scammer tricked the cashier into thinking he had paid for $2,623 worth of merchandise. Pokemon Evolution and Topps baseball cards by manipulating a credit card device to make the transaction appear as if the transaction had been accepted when in fact it had been declined, NYPD. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny He stated this at a press briefing.
Later that day, the suspect returned and “purchased” $2,558 worth of more cards from the same employee.
On his last visit, shortly before 6:30 p.m., he used the same trick to walk away with $4,528 worth of trading cards.
“For some reason, the employee … hands him a credit card machine and he somehow manipulates it into getting the sale approved,” Kenney said. “And rinse, repeat, does the same thing. Tries using a credit card, doesn't work. 'Here, try this,' and he manipulates the machine.”
Police do not believe the store employee was involved in the fraud, Kenney said.
After police released photos of the suspect, a Brooklyn card store employee who called Crime Stoppers reported that the same man stole $500 worth of baseball cards on Oct. 1 using a fake passport when asked for identification.
Nashville police called the NYPD on Nov. 14 and said they identified the man as a suspect in a case in which $3,000 worth of collectible playing cards were stolen using the same trick, Kenney said. They told the NYPD they believed the suspect was selling the cards on eBay and at baseball card shows in Alabama.
“So this guy is all over the place,” Kenny said, adding that attempts to use facial recognition software to identify the man were unsuccessful.
An employee at a card store in Manhattan described the suspect as “friendly” and “charming” and said he told the employee he went to Pace University“But the police think it’s a lie,” Kenny said.
The SoHo store, part of the new CardVault by Tom Brady chain, specializes in trading cards and high-end sports memorabilia. Brady owns 50 percent of the company.
