Pokemon trading card scammer jailed for 31 months after $200,000 fraud

Eleni Thomas
Pokemon card jailed

A Pokemon card scammer has been sentenced to jail for 31 months after they chose to plead guilty to four counts of cheating buyers out of pre-ordered Pokemon card purchases.

When it comes to trading cards, the Pokemon franchise has built a name for itself in terms of having some of the most valuable cards. With many rare items being sold at auctions for thousands of dollars.

Earlier this month, Dexerto’s reported how a rare Pichu Spikey-Eared Pokemon card sold at an auction for over $25,000, making it the most expensive Pichu Pokemon card in the history of the iconic gaming and anime franchise.

Unsurprisingly, Pokemon cards can get quite expensive as a result. How expensive, you might be asking? The most expensive Pokemon card to ever be sold was valued and exchanged hands for a jaw-dropping $6,000,000.

Now, however, it has been reported that one Pokemon trader has been sentenced to 31 months jail after pleading guilty to four counts of cheating. The cheating that Koh Jia Wen pleaded guilty to involves a large sum of money being taken from people who had reportedly pre-ordered Pokemon cards from them. The value of these cards totaling over $200,000.

Jia Wen was first arrested in July 2023. During this time, it was also revealed that she had been trying to acquire new iPhones for free from local telco company Singtel.

Pokemon card trader jailed for 31 months after committing fraud

Back in 2021, a Pokemon fan pre-ordered 74 cases of cards, each of which contained six boxes, and transferred the 26-year-old scammer roughly $61,732 USD. Following this, another buyer also purchased just under $60,000 USD worth of cards from Koh between February and May of 2022.

Thankfully, a member of the Pokémon TCG Facebook group jumped in and put things to an end before they could go any further.

During the sentence, it was also taken into account that Jia Wen had been hit with 13 other similar charges. 

For all the latest Pokemon news and updates, be sure to check out Dexerto’s full coverage here.

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About The Author

Eleni is a Melbourne-based journalist. Having completed her Bachelor's in communication (Journalism) at RMIT University, Eleni is now a Senior Writer for the Dexerto Australia team. A big Nintendo fan (with a Triforce tattoo to prove it) and a lover of the zombie genre, Eleni covers gaming, entertainment as well as TV and movies for the site. She is also passionate about covering Queer and female representation. Contact Eleni at eleni.thomas@dexerto.com