Fraudulent sale of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle cards brings federal indictment
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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Baseball card collectors paid more than $60,000 for rare Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle cards, but a Brecksville man and his brother failed to deliver and pocketed the money, according to a nine-count federal indictment returned today.
The indictment charges Steven Norris, 38, and Scott Norris, 40, with mail fraud and wire fraud.
U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said the Norris brothers operated the fraudulent scheme from 2006 through 2012, offering collectable baseball cards on eBay’s Internet auction site, including Mickey Mantle’s 1952 rookie card, and several 1933 Babe Ruth cards. But the Norrises did not own or possess the rare and valuable cards, Dettelbach said.
“The charges allege that the defendants made tens of thousands of dollars in fraud proceeds using the great legends of baseball as trade bait,” Dettelbach said. “Now it is the defendants who are hooked.”
A half-dozen duped buyers paid as much as $20,000 to the Norris brothers, only to receive counterfeit cards or nothing at all, the indictment charges.
In some cases, the Norrises would contact the runners-ups in the auctions, convince them that the winners were unable to pay, then negotiate a price for the cards, Dettelbach said.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kern.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Baseball card collectors paid more than $60,000 for rare Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle cards, but a Brecksville man and his brother failed to deliver and pocketed the money, according to a nine-count federal indictment returned today.
The indictment charges Steven Norris, 38, and Scott Norris, 40, with mail fraud and wire fraud.
U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said the Norris brothers operated the fraudulent scheme from 2006 through 2012, offering collectable baseball cards on eBay’s Internet auction site, including Mickey Mantle’s 1952 rookie card, and several 1933 Babe Ruth cards. But the Norrises did not own or possess the rare and valuable cards, Dettelbach said.
“The charges allege that the defendants made tens of thousands of dollars in fraud proceeds using the great legends of baseball as trade bait,” Dettelbach said. “Now it is the defendants who are hooked.”
A half-dozen duped buyers paid as much as $20,000 to the Norris brothers, only to receive counterfeit cards or nothing at all, the indictment charges.
In some cases, the Norrises would contact the runners-ups in the auctions, convince them that the winners were unable to pay, then negotiate a price for the cards, Dettelbach said.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kern.
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