A former Wizards of the Coast employee has been charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing $45,000 worth of Magic:  The Gathering promotional cards, according to SeattlePI.  The theft came to light when large numbers of promo cards were spotted being offered by a Burien, Washington retailer at a Portland convention.  The retailer ended up turning over 1700+ cards worth nearly $45,000 at market prices to WotC. 

The cards were allegedly stolen from a Wizards of the Coast storage locker to which former employee Donald Henry had access.  Henry has been charged but not jailed in the case.

Wizards of the Coast has battled this year to keep its promotional cards from falling into the wrong hands; the company also sued (and settled with) tournament organizers it accused of diverting cards (see “WotC Gets $100K”).