An aspiring Pokémon card trader's potentially lucrative career was cut short as he has been found guilty and sentenced to three years in federal prison. The man was arrested just last fall under suspicion that he defrauded the government to acquire a rare Charizard Pokémon card.
This story of scheming began when a Georgia man named Vinath Oudomsine, owner of a small business, applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan. The reason this loan was granted: Oudomsine's business was reportedly negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and like so many other small business owners, he needed economic support. The loan amounted to $85,000, but it seemed to have a somewhat negligible effect on Oudomsine's business. As it turned out, he used over $57,000 of that loan to purchase a first-edition, shadowless Charizard with a 9.5 mint rating (which is very high). While newer, well-maintained cards like those released in the Pokémon Celebrations expansion can be quite rare, first-edition cards are typically some of the most expensive on the market.
Rather than turning a profit and spending his earnings to spoil himself, however, Oudomsine will be spending three years in a federal penitentiary for fraud. As Polygon reports, Oudomsine will be expected to pay a fine of $10,000 in addition to his three-year sentence, and will remain under "supervised release" for another three years once his preliminary sentence is served. The courts also demanded that he surrender the Pokémon card to the prosecutors, to which he complied.
While Oudomsine's fate could arguably have been altered with the help of some improved decision-making skills, there are some who may have some sympathy for him and his current situation. Unlike more violent Pokémon card purchasers, Oudomsine didn't physically hurt anyone to obtain this coveted card. From this standpoint, a fine of $10,000 and a three-year prison sentence might appear to be too harsh. Then again, the money Oudomsine was granted could have gone to another small business owner who could have used it for its intended purpose.
In any case, the funds were clearly meant to help businesses survive an incredibly difficult economic period, not for the enrichment or pleasure of an individual. Whether Oudomsine was judged too harshly for his crime may be up for debate, but it's hard to argue that punishment is undeserved. One lesson can be gleaned from this story: a government loan shouldn't serve as funding for a rare Pokémon card.
Source: Polygon