An Iowa resident, Mitch William Gross, has been sentenced to four months in federal prison for wire fraud. For over a year, Gross illicitly used company credit cards belonging to his employer, Ruan Transportation Corporation, for personal acquisitions. These purchases included prepaid gift cards, various gaming merchandise, and, notably, Pokemon cards, all falsely presented as legitimate business expenditures.
To conceal his scheme, Gross submitted falsified receipts and fabricated expense reports, deliberately misrepresenting the charges to evade detection. The total amount of these fraudulent purchases exceeded $140,000. In addition to his prison term, Gross has been ordered to pay over $146,000 in restitution and will be subject to three years of supervised release. As per federal regulations, parole is not an option in this system.
This case, investigated by the FBI and the Des Moines Police Department, was publicly announced by U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal. It underscores a notable increase in financial crimes linked to collectible trading cards, with Pokemon cards frequently involved in such illicit activities.
This incident is the latest in a series of similar fraud and theft cases. Earlier this year in the UK, police conducting a raid near Manchester discovered a cache of stolen Pokemon cards valued at over $330,000. Separately, in New Jersey, a former USPS employee admitted to stealing valuable trading cards and memorabilia from mail packages that were intended for an auction house.