Man Used Fraudulently Obtained COVID Relief Funds to Buy Expensive Pokemon Card
One Georgia man faces charges for allegedly misappropriating COVID-19 small business funds to purchase an expensive Pokemon card.
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Government has supplemented citizens, workers, and businesses with additional income to keep themselves, their families, and their businesses afloat. After all, the pandemic has ravaged practically every industry in some way, including video games as developers moved to remote work. Unfortunately, this has led to some nationwide charges regarding the misuse of this money all over the country.
Vinath Oudomsine, a man from Dublin, Georgia, has been charged with wire fraud, as reported by USA Today. Reportedly, he received a COVID-19 relief payment of $85,000 and spent the majority of it—$57,789 to be exact—on a Pokemon card.
Federal prosecutors allege that he spent this much on a Pokemon card after he falsely received money from the Economic Injury Disaster Loans, which are designed to help small businesses with COVID-19 hardships. According to court documents, he applied for this money on July 14, 2020, and then received it three weeks later on August 4, 2020. He claimed to own a business that brought in $235,000 within a year and had ten employees.
On or around January 8, 2021, prosecutors say Oudomsine spent $57, 789 out of the deposited $85,000 to acquire this undisclosed Pokemon card. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000; when USA Today requested comment from Oudomsine’s defense lawyers, they declined to comment.
It’s also worth noting that which Pokemon card it was is not included in the court documents, just Oudomsine’s purchase of one. While $57,000 dollars may sound like a lot for a Pokemon card, it’s worth mentioning that several cards have gone for much more than that. For example, during his match with Floyd Mayweather, Logan Paul wore a Pokemon card on a gold chain that was worth $150,000. This particular card was a first-edition, shadowless, holo Charizard card with a perfect score of 10 from the PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator).
It should be noted that this first edition Shadowless Charizard purchased by Paul wasn’t even the most expensive the card has ever gone for. The exact same card with similar attributes was once sold at auction for $399,750, making collecting rare and valued Pokemon cards a very expensive hobby indeed. As such, the price Oudomsine allegedly paid for a Pokemon card checks out, though it’s worth reiterating that Oudomsine is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Source: USA Today
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