Dublin man admits to COVID-19 fraud, spends portion of funds to purchase Pokémon card
Updated: Mar 10, 2022
DUBLIN — A man from Laurens County 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, was subsequently sentenced to 36 months after pleading guilty to one count wire fraud, according to David H. Estes, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
The presiding judge, The Honorable Dudley H. Bowen, also fined Oudomsine $10,000, ordered him to pay $85,000 in restitution, and serve three years of supervised release after completion of his prison term.
There is no parole in the federal system.
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. Oudomsine claimed he 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 Oudomsine’s application, the SBA deposited $85,000 into Oudomsine’s bank account on August 4, 2020. He later used $57,789 of the funds to purchase the 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.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, and an investigator from the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigated the case.
Oudomsine was prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan A. Porter and Patrick J. Schwedler, and Asset Recovery Unit Chief Xavier A. Cunningham handled forfeiture in the case.