Federal prosecutors believe they have caught a Georgia man who they say misused some of his COVID-19 loan money.
Georgia man used $57K of COVID-19 relief loan to buy Pokémon card
Oudomsine was indicted Tuesday on one count of wire fraud, according to the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, The Macon Telegraph reported.
Prosecutors said Oudomsine lied about the number of employees he had and the revenue his business generated when he applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan during the pandemic, the newspaper reported.
If convicted, Oudomsine faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Oudomsine filed an EIDL application in July 2020 on behalf of a company. As a result, the Small Business Administration awarded Oudomsine an $85,000 loan on Aug.
4, 2020.
The SBA loans are intended to help businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic by providing working capital. Business owners were allowed to use the money for payroll, production costs, debt, rents and mortgage payments.
However, unlike Paycheck Protection Plan loans, EIDLs are not eligible for forgiveness .
Prosecutors allege that five months later, Oudomsine used a large portion of the loan to purchase a Pokémon card for $57,789, The Telegraph reported.
Pokémon cards still command high prices at auction, particularly first edition cards. A holographic PSA 10 Charizard holographic Charizard with no shadows and in mint condition sold for $220,574 to retired rapper Logic during an auction in October 2020 , according to Dice Breaker .
That record was broken in November 2020 after a copy of Shadowless Charizard sold at auction for $350,100, and Goldin Auctions sold another copy for $369,000, the website reported.
The record price for any Pokémon card, has been set by us tonight, this @sgcgrading gold label charizard sold for $369,000 ..WE ARE ACCEPTING POKEMON CONSIGNMENTS please 1st edition cards only. Email [email protected] pic.twitter.com/bqliNhtKEg
— Goldin Auctions (@GoldinAuctions) December 13, 2020
