A thief who managed to steal nearly $10,000 in goods from a SoHo trading card shop, owned by the renowned football star Tom Brady, reportedly visited the store three times on the day of the heist. Authorities also suspect he may have executed similar cons in Brooklyn and Tennessee, according to police statements on Thursday.
The initial visit to the shop on Lafayette Street occurred just before midday on October 20. The swindler deceived a cashier into believing a payment of $2,623 for Pokémon Evolution and Topps baseball cards was successful. He achieved this by tampering with the card reader to falsely indicate the transaction had gone through, even though it was actually declined, explained NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny during a press briefing.
Later that day, the same individual returned to the store and “purchased” another $2,558 worth of cards using the same ruse on the same unsuspecting employee.
On his third and final visit, just before 6:30 p.m., he repeated the trick, leaving with an additional $4,528 in trading cards.
“For some reason, the employee hands him the credit card machine, and he manipulates it in some fashion so the sale is approved,” Kenny said. “And rinse, repeat, does the same thing. Tries the credit card, doesn’t work. ‘Here, you try it,’ and he manipulates the machine.”
Police do not suspect the store worker of being complicit in the scam, Kenny confirmed.
After police released images of the suspect, a worker at a card store in Brooklyn who called the Crime Stoppers tip line said the same man stole $500 worth of baseball cards on Oct. 1 by using a fake passport when asked for identification.
Police in Nashville called the NYPD on Nov. 14 and said they recognized the man as the suspect in a case where $3,000 worth of collector playing cards were stolen using the same trick, Kenny said. They told the NYPD they believed the suspect sold the cards on eBay and at baseball card shows in Alabama.
“So this guy, he’s all over the place,” Kenny said, adding that attempts to use facial recognition software to identify the man have failed.
The Manhattan card store employee described the suspect as “friendly” and “engaging,” and said he told the worker that he went to Pace University, but police believe that’s a lie, Kenny said.
The SoHo store, which is part of a new chain, CardVault by Tom Brady, specializes in trading cards and high-end sports memorabilia. Brady owns a 50 percent stake in the company
