On Tuesday, the Marion County, Indiana, Prosecutor’s office filed charges against the two suspects in the theft of Magic: The Gathering cards at this year’s Gen Con. Thomas Dunbar and Andrew Giaume are now facing charges of felony theft, Level 5, for taking a palette-load of card boxes from event company Pastimes, Inc.
The cards were originally thought to be worth around $260,000, but after they were recovered, are now valued at $195,000. They were turned over to New York police by the attorney of someone who had purchased the cards, not knowing they were stolen. When the buyer saw all the information in the news about the theft, they concluded there was a connection and had their attorney contact the police.
Both are game designers and had worked together on a gamed called
Castle Assault. The pair made no attempt to conceal their identity and appear in several security camera images from the Indianapolis Convention center, with one even wearing a Castle Assault t-shirt.
Officials have confirmed that neither Dunbar nor Giaume were actually registered as vendors, and had not been since 2016. As such, they weren’t even supposed to be inside the exhibition hall before it opened to the public. A witness also noticed Dunbar trying to enter the locked door of an enclosed exhibition booth, and took a photo of the suspicious activity.
For reasons unknown, both suspects changed their names in the Gen Con registration system after receiving their badges. The assumed names in the system read as Scott Fischer and Ashriel Lockheart.
Hearings for the suspects are scheduled for today.
