Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- A Utah woman has been charged with producing and selling fake Pokémon cards to collectors for thousands of dollars.
- Police reported locating equipment used to produce fake cards, including laptops, printers, laminators, cameras and more.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Utah woman is facing charges accusing her of swindling thousands of dollars from collectors by selling fake Pokémon cards.
Haley Alejandra Hayward, 29, was charged Dec. 22 in 4th District Court with theft by deception and 10 counts of forgery, third-degree felonies. A month later, on Jan. 22, she was charged in a separate case with theft by deception, forgery, communications fraud, five counts of possessing a forged writing and five counts of possessing a device used to make forged writings, all third-degree felonies.
In all, Hayward, who is listed in court documents as being from West Valley City but also has ties to an apartment in Saratoga Springs, faces 24 felony charges for allegedly selling fake Pokémon cards.
Dn Dec. 14, a man arranged to buy 10 collectable Pokemon cards from Hayward for $4,500.
"(He) was led to believe that the Pokémon cards were authentic PSA rated cards," according to a police booking affidavit. The two met in a store parking lot in Saratoga Springs, and after the victim briefly inspected the cards, he gave Hayward his money.
"Later, (the) victim and some friends inspected the cards more carefully and determined they were fakes," the charges state. "(The) victim reported the incident to Saratoga Springs police and gave the fake cards to (an) officer, who was able to confirm that they were fake using several investigative techniques."
The victim then told police that his friend had arranged to buy another card from Hayward the next day. Officers went to the location where the transaction was scheduled to take place and arrested Hayward upon her arrival.
Then, on Dec. 31, a second victim arranged to purchase a Pokémon card from Hayward for $1,500, according to charging documents for her second case.
After completing the transaction, "(The) victim then took the card to a card shop and was told the card was a fake," the charges state. "(The) victim reported the incident to Saratoga Springs police, who conducted infrared scans on the card and confirmed that it was fake."
That incident led to detectives serving a search warrant at Hayward's residence on Jan. 6.
"During the search, officers located boxes of collectible cards, including sports cards, Pokémon cards and other types of cards. They also found equipment used to produce fake cards, including laptops, electronic tablets, cellphones, video recorders, printers, laminators, heat presses, cameras, 3D printing equipment, cardstock, high-quality printer paper, photo paper and soft and hard plastic card sleeves," according to the charges.
"They also found printed sheets containing card images, including fake historical Edgar Allan Poe cards, and a counterfeit Illustrator Pokémon card, the original of which is extremely rare and potentially worth over $1 million," the charges say.
In addition, police found "fake currency" labeled with: "for motion picture purposes," police say.
A Pokémon card and a printer were found in Hayward's master bedroom, an "imitation Pikachu/Pocket Monster Card Game" and an "oversized Pokémon card" were found in the kitchen, and 88 more Pokémon cards, along with clear card cases, a heat press, a printer and a laptop were found in the living room, according to court documents.
