A GEORGIA man has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison after buying a rare Pokémon card.
Vinath Oudomsine, 31, was also fined $10,000, ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution and, of course, forfeited the Pokémon card he purchased with the illegally obtained Covid-19 relief funds.
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Oudomsine was given a Covid relief loan after claiming he ran a small business that employed 10 people.
He was awarded an $85,000, which was supposed to help him keep his imaginary business going during the pandemic.
The man spent $57,789 on a first edition Charizard card.
It was shadowless, holographic and came with “9.5 gem mint rating”.
One of the prosecuting attorneys, David Estes, was quoted in a press report saying “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.
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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 over 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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In other news, prudish Nasa has admitted it may have to study sex in space if humanity is ever going to make it to other planets.
An ancient mega-landslide deep under the ocean has been uncovered which could cause a massive tsunami with “just a little shake in the wrong place”.
Samsung has been accused of throttling the performance of more than 10,000 apps running on its latest smartphone.
And Nasa will let you send your name on a flight around the Moon – for FREE.
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