A man from Georgia, USA has been arrested for using supposed COVID-19 relief funds to purchase a shiny Charizard card for the Pokémon Trading Card Game.According to Polygon, this was a first-edition shadowless holographic Charizard, making it an incredibly rare Pokémon card.
The Georgia man, 31-year-old Vinath Oudomsine, raised $85,000 worth of “COVID-19 relief funds” by pretending to be a small business owner. Unfortunately, Oudomsine, then proceeded to use $57,000 of it to purchase this card. That's since been confiscated by the state government, while he spends 36 months in prison.
Georgia Man Arrested For Using Covid-19 Relief Funds to Buy a Holographic Charizard Card
Speaking about this arrest, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, Philip Wislar, confirmed:
"COVID-19 disaster relief loans are issued by the government to help businesses struggling to survive during a pandemic, not to use for trivial collectible items. This sentence highlights the FBI’s commitment to aggressively pursue anyone who would abuse taxpayer dollars and divert them from citizens who desperately need them.”
Elsewhere in Pokémon news, we recently had confirmation that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are launching for the Nintendo Switch later this year, kicking off Generation 9. We don't have an exact release date for it, though we'll keep you informed with further Pokémon updates as we hear them.