An alleged Pokemon card theft ring has been busted in the US.
Stephen Rochelle Jr. and Amanda Morgan were arrested last week for allegedly replacing the bar code of high-value cards for those with a lower price.
Rochelle and Morgan, both 27, of Jacksonville were jailed on a $5,000 unsecured bond - charged with felony larceny from a merchant, product code fraud and felony conspiracy.
The Onslow County Sheriff's Office in eastern North Carolina was responsible for busting the intricate Pokemon card theft ring.
According to the detectives, the intricate method applied by the suspects was a 'bait and switch' - a fancy name for basically replacing the bar code of a product.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game is a collectable card game based on Nintendo's Pokemon franchise of video games and anime.
Popular amongst gamers and children, it can be a pleasant surprise to find that your collection of rare cards is now worth a fortune. The most expensive Pokemon card ever cost the outstanding amount of $233,000. Yes, it was a Pikachu card.
A best-selling toy in the so-called 'strategic card game' subclass in 2016, these cards can reach high prices and are highly sought by collectors and - apparently - criminal geniuses alike.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game was first released in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. The rights used to be Nintendo's but were transferred to The Pokemon Company in June 2003.
So far, the game has sold over 30.4 billion cards worldwide. Perhaps buying Pokemon cards can be an alternative career after the pandemic has left us all hanging out to dry? Just don't try to 'bait and switch' them, please, or we'll have to write about you.Featured Image Credit: Onslow County Sheriff's Office