Georgia man used most of COVID-relief business loan to buy a $57,000 Pokémon card, prosecutors say

A Georgia man has been charged with illegally spending more than $57,000 he got in a COVID-19 relief business loan on something not for his business — a Pokémon card.

Vinath Oudomsine, of Dublin, Georgia, is charged with wire fraud. Federal prosecutors say he falsely applied for money from the Economic Injury Disaster Loans — designed to help small businesses experiencing hardship because of the pandemic — on July 14, 2020.

According to court documents, Oudomsine said he was the sole owner of a business that brought in $235,000 in a 12-month span and had 10 employees, and, on Aug. 4, 2020, received a deposit of $85,000 into his bank account.

About five months later, early last January, Oudomsine spent $57,789 of the COVID relief money meant to help his business on a Pokémon card, according to prosecutors, who didn’t say in court documents which one it was. Rare Pokémon cards have been sold for as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Oudomsine’s lawyers wouldn’t comment.

Read more at USA Today.