'King of Memorabilia' pleads guilty to fraud

by KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter October 10, 2013

The so-called "King of Memorabilia" faces up to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty Thursday to a fraud scheme that included doctoring the most expensive baseball card ever sold.

Bill Mastro - who altered the ultra-rare $2.8 million 1909 Honus Wagner cigarette card in 1986 - for years traded in phony memorabilia and used shill bidding to drive up prices and con collectors who bought goods he sold through his business, Mastro Auctions.

In court Thursday, he admitted trimming the sides of the Wagner card to increase its value, and to failing to disclose that an 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings trophy ball he sold for $62,000 was shown in lab tests to be a fake made after World War II.

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