GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — If you grew up a sports fan, chances are you had a trading card or two lying around – probably more. It’s a huge corner of the collector’s industry and cards have been known to fetch selling prices in the hundreds, thousands, and in some rare cases millions.
But in Norton Shores, a man was jailed this week for possessing and selling fake cards that were essentially worthless.
Bryan Kennert is accused of selling packs of antique baseball cards that he claimed were original and unopened. But authorities found Kennert had been opening the packs, removing the valuable cards, and resealing them using an adhesive prior to sale. The rouse was discovered when Kennert sold a wary couple $43,354.94 worth of the worthless packs and they reported it to authorities.
The real surprise came when federal agents served a warrant at Kennert’s home and discovered a collection of fake cards that, if authentic, would’ve been worth $7.3 million. They added that Kennert had likely been selling counterfeit cards for the last 30 years and admitted to making a six-figure yearly salary thanks to the phony items.
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“It’s just a cautionary tale,” said Lou Brown, a long-time collector and owner of Legends Sports and Games in Grand Rapids. “You need to be aware of what you’re doing. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”
But make no mistake, Lou says some fakes are easy to fall for. As he showed FOX 17 a picture of an authentic and valuable Wayne Gretzky card – the same version Kennert had tried to rip off – it was difficult to tell the difference.
“Even the experts get fooled on some of it,” he said. “With the technology that they have today, sometimes it’s just a matter of matching the paper.”
It does happen. This spring, in Michigan, three men were charged with selling fake autographed memorabilia. The Better Business Bureau in Wisconsin sent out an advisory earlier this year warning of the growing practice.
Kennert was sentenced to 30 months in jail. Brown is heartened that authorities took this case seriously and sent a clear warning to would-be scammers that fake cards aren’t tolerated and carry serious consequences.
“Kennert exploited unsuspecting victims for 30 years,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “Consumers should have confidence that the products they buy are the real thing. My office will continue its hard work to root out consumer fraud.”
Brown, who’s been in business for 35 years and collecting far longer than that, says to be wary when dealing with any vendor, especially on unregulated exchanges like Facebook Marketplace. Good actors will be able to show you a certificate of authenticity and will know the correct market price of items.
“If you’re dealing with somebody that seems to know what they’re doing and yet, they’re offering you 20% of what it’s worth, why would he do that?” Brown said. “Why would he leave that much on the table? It doesn’t make any sense.”
