Anthony Curcio & Joe Bondarchuk

What the public record shows

Anthony Curcio, 45, of Redmond, Washington, was convicted at trial — a jury verdict — of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, following a two-and-a-half-week trial. His co-defendant, Joe Bondarchuk, 38, of Lake Stevens, Washington, pleaded guilty to one count each of the same charges. These are criminal convictions — not allegations.

The scheme

According to the Department of Justice:

• Curcio and Bondarchuk sold sports and Pokémon trading cards with fake grades falsely attributed to Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), the leading third-party card-grading service.
• A PSA grade can dramatically increase a card’s market value — the whole scheme worked by taking common, low-value cards and dressing them up with counterfeit high grades to sell at inflated prices.
• They sold the falsely graded cards on eBay and other marketplaces, at card shows, and in person, ultimately depriving victims of more than $2 million.

Why “collectibles as investments” attract this fraud

Sports cards and other collectibles are increasingly marketed as alternative investments, and their value depends heavily on third-party authentication most buyers can’t independently re-verify at the point of sale. Faking that authentication is a low-cost, high-payoff fraud.

Why we rate this 1 / 10 — Avoid

A jury conviction and a guilty plea for systematically counterfeiting the exact authentication system buyers were relying on to trust the cards’ value.

Red flags this case teaches

• Verify any grading certificate directly with the grading company (PSA, BGS, etc.) using their official lookup tools — never trust a slab or certificate number at face value from the seller.
• Prices far above a card’s known, ungraded market value should trigger independent verification before you pay.
• Buy from established, reputable dealers and confirm authentication independently when the purchase amount is significant.

Bottom line

Convicted and pleaded guilty. In any collectible marketed as an investment, verify the authentication directly with the issuing authority — don’t trust a certificate number the seller hands you.

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