A Georgia man is facing wire fraud charges after he allegedly used a COVID-19 business relief loan to purchase a single Pokémon card worth more than $57,000, the Associated Press reports.
Per the outlet, Vinath Oudomsine was arrested and charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
According to court documents, Oudomsine applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) in August 2020, claiming he was the sole owner of a business that generated $250,000 in revenue and had 10 employees. In January, several months after receiving $85,000 in his bank account, Oudomsine allegedly spent $57,789 of the government funds on a rare Pokémon card.
While it is unclear which Pokémon card Oudomsine purchased, rare cards still attract high prices at auctions.
A recent shortage of Pokémon cards has resulted in several absurd incidents over the past few months. In March, a 28-year-old Tokyo man was arrested after he climbed down from a building rooftop with a rope to bust into a store so that he could steal the trading cards. Two months earlier, an incredibly rare Pokémon Blastoise card sold for $360,000 at an online auction. Even rappers have fallen victim to the craze: last October, Logic dropped $226,000 on a Charizard card.
