During the Covid-19 pandemic, many small businesses were forced to shut down operations due to the lack of income.

For such businesses, many governments around the world have come up with financial relief like loans to help them cope with the situation.

However, a few bad apples do misuse the funds offered.

He lied to the government

For instance, a man from Georgia, United States, has used the Covid-19 pandemic relief loan to buy a Pokemon card for US$57,000 (RM236,464).


According to a report by AP, court papers reveal that Vinath Oudomsine was charged with lying about the number of people his business employed and the company’s gross revenue on an application for a pandemic economic relief loan.

The report also quoted USA Today as saying that he had used the money from the Economic Injury Disaster Loans which was given to him on Aug 4, 2020, to purchase the card five months later.

He also claimed he was the sole owner of a business that brought in US$235,000 (RM974,897) in a 12-month span and had 10 employees.

For the offence, he faces one count of wire fraud and can be jailed for 20 years and fined for US$250,000 (RM1,037,125) upon conviction.