Southern Californian man Anthony J. Tremayne, 58, has pleaded guilty to selling fake memorabilia, which accumulated him hundreds of thousands of dollars over nearly a decade.

Tremayne pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud concerning the faux memorabilia he was selling, which alleged the signatures of famous actors, musicians and athletes, such as Donald Trump, Kobe Bryant and Kim Kardashian.

Bryant’s faux memorabilia was particularly lucrative for Tremayne. The trade for sports memorabilia has grown into a $30 billion market in the U.S. Babe Ruth’s (real) jersey was sold last August for $24 million, the most expensive item ever auctioned off.

Tremayne admitted to selling between $250,000 and $550,000 between the years of 2010 and 2019. In one $4,000 sale in 2013, Tremayne managed to sell 20 forged signatures to a customer, including those of Larry Bird, Muhammad Ali and the four Beatles. Later that year, he was able to make $100,000 off a sale of 100 forged items from the Twilight series, Star Wars and Captain America.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office declared, “Tremayne forged the signatures, and the authenticity certificates were bogus.” 

Tremayne first came under fire in 2020 when an undercover FBI agent bought photographs allegedly signed by the Kardashians for $200. Witnesses to Tremayne’s scam informed authorities that Tremayne had sold them objects supposedly signed by members of the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, L.A. Clippers, Los Angeles Angels, the Los Angeles Kings, as well as an unnamed golf star. 

U.S. District Judge James V. Selna scheduled a sentencing date for Aug. 11. Tremayne faces up to 20 years in prison for each fraud count and two years in federal prison for each aggravated identity theft count. 

The indictment also claims that Tremayne moved from California to Mexico in order to avoid paying roughly $1.4 million in U.S. taxes.

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Article by Baila Eve Zisman

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