Californian Charged with eBay Sports Card Scam
Pinchdatail
Posts: 141 ✭
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A man who purported to offer rare sports cards including that of baseball legend Mickey Mantle has been charged with defrauding eBay bidders, the U.S. Attorney's office said on Thursday.
Michael Gouveia, 39, of San Lorenzo, California, was charged late on Wednesday in San Jose with five counts of mail fraud and wire fraud in offering a 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie card and 1952 Mickey Mantle card for sale.
He received more than $7,000 for each of the Mantle cards, among the most valuable sports cards of the past half century or so, but never delivered the cards to the buyers. He also offered cards of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. In all, he is charged with defrauding more than $30,000 from 2002-03 and could face up to 20 years in prison for each violation.
Fraud on eBay has grown as the online auction site has become more popular, and officials have announced a series of prosecutions in related cases.
A prosecutor said Gouveia was in custody and could not be reached for comment.
Michael Gouveia, 39, of San Lorenzo, California, was charged late on Wednesday in San Jose with five counts of mail fraud and wire fraud in offering a 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie card and 1952 Mickey Mantle card for sale.
He received more than $7,000 for each of the Mantle cards, among the most valuable sports cards of the past half century or so, but never delivered the cards to the buyers. He also offered cards of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. In all, he is charged with defrauding more than $30,000 from 2002-03 and could face up to 20 years in prison for each violation.
Fraud on eBay has grown as the online auction site has become more popular, and officials have announced a series of prosecutions in related cases.
A prosecutor said Gouveia was in custody and could not be reached for comment.
Always looking for PSA 9 or 10 Pete Maravich cards!
#1 Pete Maravich Master Set AGAIN!
The Ultimate Pete Maravich Card Collection
#1 Pete Maravich Master Set AGAIN!
The Ultimate Pete Maravich Card Collection
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<< <i> In all, he is charged with defrauding more than $30,000 from 2002-03 and could face up to 20 years in prison for each violation. >>
Wow
20 years x 5 counts = 100 years
Not really worth the trouble for $30,000 IMHO
<< <i>I hope this is seen by a certain Indiana U student who's repeatedly trying to sell PSA Mantle rookies he doesn't own and some cards he graded himself. >>
I had at first thought it was the same person that came here boasting of those purchases, sales or something.
Virgin Mary grilled cheese on eBay
By Dan Reed
Mercury News
Posted on Thu, Nov. 18, 2004
It's a miracle!
That anyone would want to buy this.
But Diana Duyser's 10-year-old half of a grilled-cheese sandwich has fetched bids of at least $69,107 on eBay. Even with a bite taken out of it.
And the moment Duyser took that bite? Holy Cheeses! She saw an image of the Virgin Mary herself.
Naturally, she could eat no more. So, she kept the sandwich enshrined in a plastic box, surrounded by cotton balls, on her bedroom shelf.
A decade later she decided, what the heck, she'll sell it.
Duyser listed it Monday on San Jose's eBay, the Internet auction house. And the spoilsports took it down the same day, figuring it was a hoax.
But they soon allowed it to go back up. ``We realized pretty quickly that she was perfectly capable of delivering what she was selling -- this grilled-cheese sandwich,'' eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said Wednesday.
The genesis of the sandwich goes back 10 years. Duyser, who had her gallbladder removed, was making a cheese sandwich, but without oil or butter. She eats a lot of them that way because she's gallbladderless.
Out came the frying pan, white bread from her local grocery store in Hollywood, Fla., and Land of Lakes yellow American cheese.
She cut the sandwich in half. No one appeared on the half she ate. But, then came the fateful chomp out of the second half. ``I took a bite out of it and she was looking at me, and I spit it out and hollered for my husband,'' she recalled Wednesday. ``It scared the heck out of me. You don't see that in your grilled cheese -- a lady looking at you.''
Many grilled-cheese sandwiches later, Duyser has yet to find another Virgin Mary. It was a one-time deal. In fact, she admitted, no other sacred figures have shown up in her food.
It's unclear how Duyser concluded the face was the Virgin Mary. Maybe it was Madonna -- you know, the other one. No, said Duyser, who is a Baptist -- she's positive it's the Holy Mother.
``It has to be some kind of power for me to have made it,'' she said.
And it's brought her luck, Duyser said -- mainly at the local Indian casino, where she's won about $70,000 during her holy-sandwich years.
Is she trying to unload it now because the power's ebbing? ``Oh no,'' Duyser said. ``She's getting stronger. She gets deeper, like darker, so you can see her more.''
And the time has come, Duyser said, to share the miracle -- at a price.
What's next? Find the pope in the Pop Tart? Well, maybe.
People have been seeing visions in food the world over -- the Virgin Mary in a tortilla, Jesus in cornbread.
The Rev. Paul Fitzgerald, associate professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University, explains part of the religion suggests that God is present everywhere, such as Christ being present in the bread and wine during Mass. And the church has documented miracles of the Virgin Mary before, such as at Fatima. But not usually in baked goods or sandwiches.
Still, there's always a first. And if nothing else, this may be a first for Internet sales. Durzy also reminds all bidders that a bid is a binding contract, which means the seller can sue if the buyer doesn't come through with the cash.
So, try your luck. During your next meal, play your very own home version of ``Who's in My Food?'' Might be worth some big bucks.
<< <i>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A man who purported to offer rare sports cards including that of baseball legend Mickey Mantle has been charged with defrauding eBay bidders, the U.S. Attorney's office said on Thursday.
Michael Gouveia, 39, of San Lorenzo, California, was charged late on Wednesday in San Jose with five counts of mail fraud and wire fraud in offering a 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie card and 1952 Mickey Mantle card for sale.
He received more than $7,000 for each of the Mantle cards, among the most valuable sports cards of the past half century or so, but never delivered the cards to the buyers. He also offered cards of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. In all, he is charged with defrauding more than $30,000 from 2002-03 and could face up to 20 years in prison for each violation.
Fraud on eBay has grown as the online auction site has become more popular, and officials have announced a series of prosecutions in related cases.
A prosecutor said Gouveia was in custody and could not be reached for comment. >>
Too bad Ebay can't/won't make the above required reading before you are allowed to list a 1951 or 1952 Mantle...
Robert
Any high grade OPC Jim Palmer
High grade Redskins (pre 1980)