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Two Washington state men were charged Thursday in New York federal court with running a $2 million scheme to defraud buyers of sports and Pokémon trading cards by claiming low- or mid-grade cards were authentic and highly rated.

Anthony Curcio and Iosif Bondarchuk were charged with wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy. Both were arrested Thursday morning and were scheduled to make an initial appearance in Washington federal court later in the day.

"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," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "Thanks to our law enforcement partners, the dedicated prosecutors of this office, and the many victims who came forward, this alleged fraud has had its last dance."

Curcio and Bondarchuk could not be reached for comment.

$2M Sports, Pokémon Trading Card Scam: Scheme Details

Prosecutors claim Curcio, who sometimes used the name Brendan Wooley, and Bondarchuk told buyers that the cards had received high ratings from an unnamed card appraisal and authentication company.

Among the cards they sold were a 1986 Michael Jordan card, which Curcio advertised on an online marketplace for $171,700, claiming it had received a grade of 10, the highest possible, prosecutors said. The card authentication company had not in fact assigned a grade to the card, but Curcio displayed it in a tamper-resistant plastic case that labeled it as having received a 10, according to the indictment.

The pair also sold cards at card shops, auctions, and card shows, or through other online platforms using third-party sellers, prosecutors said.

When victims confronted Curcio and Bondarchuk and demanded refunds, they "feigned ignorance and often refunded the victims," only to sell the same fraudulent cards to other people, the indictment said.

Curcio and Bondarchuk marketed two 1999 Pokémon cards depicting "Venusaur" and "Charizard," eventually agreeing to sell the former to an undercover law enforcement agent in July 2023 for $10,500, prosecutors said.

 False Identities and Previous Crimes

The pair used a variety of false identities in the $2M sports, Pokémon trading card scam, according to prosecutors. In March 2023, one customer complained to Bondarchuk about fraudulent cards, and Bondarchuk gave the customer Curcio's phone number but said it belonged to a different person who was a leader in the Hells Angels motorcycle club, the indictment reads.

On another occasion, Bondarchuk provided a complaining buyer with Curcio's phone number but told him it belonged to "John Steel," according to the indictment.

At a card show in New Jersey, prosecutors said, Curcio handed out a business card claiming to be Brendan Wooley, listing a phone number and LinkedIn page he created associated with the identity. He used that name to order items online that were needed to create forged card cases, prosecutors said.

Curcio made headlines in 2008 when he pulled off an elaborately planned robbery of an armored truck. Media reports from the time said Curcio created an ad on Craigslist seeking workers to assist with a city beautification project in his hometown of Monroe, Washington, that instructed those interested to come with specific attire including a safety vest, ventilator mask and eye protection.

Roughly a dozen men showed up for the project at a parking lot outside a Bank of America branch that Curcio had been observing for months, reports show. When an armored truck pulled up to make a cash delivery, Curcio allegedly pepper-sprayed a guard, grabbed about $400,000 in cash, and escaped across a river in an inner tube, guiding himself with cables that he had installed earlier, to a waiting getaway vehicle.

Curcio was arrested several weeks later and, according to a case docket, pled guilty in May 2009 to interference with commerce and was sentenced to six years in prison. According to the Bureau of Prisons, he was released in 2013.

The government is represented by David Felton and Kingdar Prussien of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

Attorney information was not immediately available for Curcio and Bondarchuk.

The case is USA v. Curcio et al., case number 1:24-cr-312 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.