Air Jordan Shoes ... Thief Uses Phony Money and Brutality in Theft

Michael Jordan's good name has been dragged into a criminal investigation after a guy allegedly used fake money to score a pair of his famous Air Jordan shoes, and the seller got beat up during the deal.

The Jordans were being shopped on OfferUp.com for $385. The seller met up with a guy named Leon at a Burger King in L.A.. Leon handed the seller a stack of bills and walked away with the kicks.

Almost instantly the seller realized he'd been had ... the money was obviously counterfeit. The seller booked it to Leon's car, ran to the car and tried grabbing the shoes out of the passenger window, but the passenger had other ideas and punched him multiple times in the face.

Leon got away, but maybe not for long. Cops got a search warrant last month to check Leon's OfferUp account info.