COVID-19 relief money to buy a US$57,000 Pokémon trading card.Vinath Oudomsine of Dublin, Ga., pleaded guilty in October to a single count of wire fraud after he was accused of submitting false information to the U.S.
Small Business Administration last year when he applied for a coronavirus relief loan for an “entertainment services” business he claimed to own.
Pokemon card sales spiked amid COVID-19. Now, stores are taking them off the shelves He received $85,000 from the loan program, prosecutors said, and used it to buy a “Charizard” Pokémon trading card for $57,789.The 31-year-old claimed that his nonexistent business had 10 employees and was grossing about $235,000 per year, said a release from the U.S.
Department of Justice.“COVID-19 disaster relief loans are issued by the government to help businesses struggling to survive during a pandemic, not to use for trivial collectible items,” Philip Wislar, acting special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a statement.