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Two charges in McGwire card fraud
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Posted on Dec 15 1998
LYNDHURST, N.J.— Two men were charged with trademark counterfeiting after selling bogus Mark McGwire rookie cards to an undercover police officer, authorities said.
Jeffrey L. Bernstein, 30, of Miami Beach, Fla., and Joseph Yavetz, 28, of Woodland Hills, Calif., were targeted after a memorabilia collector who had been offered the cards contacted card-maker Topps Inc., according to Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor James Donohue.
The unnamed collector sent one of the cards to Topps Inc. to be analyzed. Once it was determined to be fake, Topps notified the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, which set up the sting operation Thursday.
The two met the undercover officer at a hotel and sold 720 counterfeit cards for $65,000, or about $90 per card, authorities said.
Bernstein and Yavetz were each charged with trademark counterfeiting and conspiracy to commit trademark counterfeiting.
Genuine cards from McGwire’s 1985 rookie season were worth about $35 prior to last season, when McGwire hit 70 home runs to break Roger Maris’ single-season record of 61. Now the cards fetch hundreds of dollars, collectors say.
“Even the bad ones are going for $200,” said Sal Giammona, owner of Ben’s Baseball Card Shop in Hasbrouck Heights.
