Man Who Spent Covid $57K of Covid Relief Money on Pokemon Card Gets 3 Years in Prison
When the government started handing out pandemic relief money, you just knew there was going to be plenty of fraud.
That has happened by the truckloads over the last couple of years. But, at least one Georgia man is going to pay for his idiocy.
31-year-old Vinath Oudomsine pled guilty this week in Georgia to spending more than $57,000 of his coronavirus relief money on a rare Pokemon card.
(Not the actual card below, but close...we're guessing. Who really knows about $57,000 Pokemon cards anyway?!)
He was sentenced to three years in federal prison and must pony up nearly $100,000.
Federal prosecutors said that Oudomsine will serve three years for wire fraud and will be placed on probation for another three years after he is released.
The court ordered him to pay back the $85,000 small business relief check and pay a $10,000 fine on top of that.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Oudomsine fraudulently applied for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan in July 2020 on behalf of his "entertainment services" business. He claimed that the business had 10 employees.
But, of course, he never used the money on his business, but rather a $57,789 "Charizard" trading card.
Oh, on top of the prison sentence and restitution, the man also had to forfeit the card to the federal government.
Smooth, real smooth.