Georgia man who used COVID relief funds to buy Pokemon card sentenced to prison
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office - Southern District of Georgia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 7, 2022
Georgia man who used COVID relief funds to buy Pokemon card sentenced to prison
Sentence includes payment of $85,000 in restitution
DUBLIN, GA: A Laurens County, Georgia man has been sentenced to federal prison after admitting he lied to obtain a COVID-19 disaster relief loan, then used a large portion of the money to buy a collectible trading card.
Vinath Oudomsine, 31, of Dublin, Ga., was sentenced to 36 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of Wire Fraud, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen also fined Oudomsine $10,000, ordered him to pay restitution of $85,000, and to serve three years of supervised release after completion of his prison term.
There is no parole in the federal system.
Congress appropriated funding to assist small businesses struggling through the challenges of a global pandemic, said U.S. Attorney Estes. 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.
As described in court documents and testimony, starting on or around July 2020, Oudomsine applied to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) ostensibly for an entertainment services business in Dublin that Oudomsine claimed had 10 employees and gross revenues of $235,000 in the 12 months preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of fraudulent representations on Oudomsines application, the SBA deposited $85,000 into Oudomsines bank account on Aug. 4, 2020. Oudomsine later used $57,789 of the funds to purchase a Pokémon trading card. Oudomsine agreed to forfeit the Pokémon card Charizard as part of the prosecution.
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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/pr/georgia-man-who-used-covid-relief-funds-buy-pokemon-card-sentenced-prison