Man sentenced after using COVID loan to spend over $50,000 on a Pokémon trading card
31-year-old Vinath Oudomsine, was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to one count of Wire Fraud.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT)— A Laurens County man has been sentenced 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.
31-year-old Vinath Oudomsine, was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to one count of Wire Fraud. He’s also fined $10,000, ordered him to pay restitution of $85,000, and serve three years of probation after his prison term.
According to court documents and testimony, Oudomsine applied to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in July of 2020, for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) ostensibly for an “entertainment services” business in Dublin. Oudomsine claimed he had 10 employees and gross revenues of $235,000 in the 12 months preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SBA then deposited $85,000 into his bank account about a month later. Oudomsine later used $57,789 of the money to buy a Pokémon trading card.
Oudomsine agreed to forfeit the Pokémon card – “Charizard” – as part of the prosecution.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
