SAN MATEO, CA — A man accused of stealing a rare anime trading card in a $30,000 scam was arrested at a San Mateo trading card convention after a vendor recognized the card from a Facebook warning, police said.
San Mateo police responded to the San Mateo Event Center at 10:56 a.m. on Sunday after security detained a man who had tried to sell the card to a vendor. The vendor recognized it from a Facebook group post warning collectors that it had been stolen.
Investigators spoke with the victim, who told police he had attempted to sell the card to the suspect in Garden Grove in July for $30,000. After receiving what he believed was the full payment in cash, the victim said the buyer fled with the card. He later discovered he had received only a few hundred dollars.
The victim filed a police report in Garden Grove and posted a warning to other collectors and vendors on Facebook.
Police identified the suspect as Constantin Nitescu, 44, of Washington state.
Investigators said he had previously tried to sell the card in Las Vegas and at another card show in Santa Clara County, but fled before officers arrived. He is also under investigation in a similar case in Marina, police said.
Nitescu initially gave officers a false identity, according to police.
He was arrested and booked into the San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of grand theft, possession of stolen property, theft by false pretenses and providing false identification to law enforcement. He also had three outstanding warrants, police said.
The trading card was recovered.
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