Man jailed for using Covid disaster relief loan to buy rare Pokémon card worth $60,000

A GEORGIA man has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison after buying a rare Pokémon card with illegally-obtained Covid-19 relief funds.

Vinath Oudomsine, 31, spent $57,789 on the first edition Charizard card which was shadowless, holographic and came with “9.5 gem mint rating”.

As well as the jail term, he was also fined $10,000, ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution, and had to forfeit the Pokémon card he purchased.

Oudomsine was given a Covid relief loan after claiming he ran a small business that employed 10 people.

He was awarded $85,000, which was supposed to help him keep his imaginary business going during the pandemic.

Prosecuting attorney David Estes said: “Like moths to the flame, fraudsters like Oudomsine took advantage of these programs to line their own pockets – and with our law enforcement partners, we are holding him and others accountable for their greed.”

Dating up to 2018, the average wire fraud sentence fell between 20 and 24 months.

Philip Wislar, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said Oudomsine’s three-year sentence “highlights the FBI’s commitment to aggressively pursue anyone who would abuse taxpayer dollars and divert them from citizens who desperately need them.”

Reporting by POGO found that more than 200 individuals have been charged with misappropriating Paycheck Protection Program loans since issuing began in April 2020. 

A Maryland pastor was caught for wrongfully using his PPP loan to buy a Tesla.

A star on the show Love & Hip Hop was arrested for a similar scam involving a Rolls Royce.

POGO’s report estimates that schemers came away with roughly $246million of the $755billion doled by order of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

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