Pokémon cards have become an investment for many collectors. Particularly rare specimens can fetch horrendous sums of money. However, they put a man from the USA in prison.
What was the man guilty of? V. Oudomsine, now 33, borrowed money from a Small Business Administration loan program. The loan was intended to provide relief money for small businesses that needed financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oudomsine received around 82,000 euros for his small business, which reportedly employed 10 people. But according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, no such company ever existed. The convicted man used some of the money to buy a particularly rare Pokémon card in January 2021. This made him liable to prosecution.
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Criminal bets on the value of Pokémon card
Why did he spend the money on a Pokémon card? The card is a first edition of Charizard. In recent years, prices for older cards have skyrocketed to such an extent that many fans have been able to earn an exorbitant amount of money by selling their cards. No wonder that thieves are now even showing up and stealing the valuable cards.
The scammer probably speculated that the card would increase in value. This way he could not only repay the loan, but also put something into his own pocket. But Oudomsine is said to have bought the card at the worst possible time.
When the then 31-year-old bought the card, it was said to have had its maximum value. So it wouldn’t have been possible to sell Charizard at a higher price. This meant the criminal’s plan went awry.
What kind of punishment did he receive? Oudomsine was sentenced to 3 years in prison for embezzling aid funds. In addition, he was not allowed to keep the Charizard card – it was confiscated by the federal authorities.
Medical technology can be used to see in advance which cards are included in a pack. A YouTuber has presented a method with which he looks into unopened boosters for a sum of money: “Collecting Pokémon cards will never be the same again” – scans using medical technology show contents of booster packs