Crook who stole $10K in trading cards from Tom Brady’s SoHo store is repeat scammer: NYPD

A crook who made off with nearly $10,000 in merchandise from a SoHo trading card store owned by football legend Tom Brady visited the store three times on the day of the robbery and may have carried out similar scams in Brooklyn and Tennessee, police said Thursday.

The first visit to the Lafayette Street store occurred just before noon on Oct. 20, when the scammer tricked the cashier into believing he had paid for $2,623 worth of Pokémon Evolution and Topps baseball cards by manipulating the credit card machine to make it appear like the transaction had been accepted when it had actually been declined, New York Police Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a press briefing.

Later that day, the suspect returned and “purchased” additional cards worth $2,558 from the same employee.

During his last visit, shortly before 6:30 p.m., he used the same trick to leave with $4,528 in trading cards.

“For some reason the employee hands him the credit card machine and he manipulates it somehow to get the sale approved,” Kenny said. “And rinse, repeat, does the same thing. He tries the credit card, it doesn’t work. ‘Here, you try,’ and he manipulates the machine.”

Cops don’t believe the store employee was involved in the scam, Kenny said.

After police released images of the suspect, a Brooklyn card store employee who called the Crime Stoppers tip line said the same man stole $500 worth of baseball cards on Oct. 1 using a fake passport when asked for ID.

Nashville police called New York police on Nov. 14 and said they recognized the man as a suspect in a case where collectible playing cards worth $3,000 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 everywhere,” Kenny said, adding that attempts to use facial recognition software to identify the man were unsuccessful.

The Manhattan card store employee described the suspect as “friendly” and “engaging” and said he told the worker he went to Pace University, but police believe that is a lie, Kenny said.

The SoHo store, part of a new chain, CardVault by Tom Brady, specializes in high-end trading cards and sports memorabilia. Brady owns a 50 percent stake in the company