One California man was living the high life for a while, using stolen money to purchase luxury cars, furniture, NFL and NBA season tickets, and $1 million in player fees for an online video game.
Kevin Lee Co, 45, of Rocklin, Calif., pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of wire fraud and money laundering after embezzling millions from his employer, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Co was formerly employed by Holt of California where he served as Controller and managed the company's accounting department.
From May 2008 until March 2015, Co embezzled approximately $4.8 million from the company. He used the money to purchase the big ticket items mentioned above, and to fuel what sounds like an online video gaming obsession.
The Justice Department didn't say what video game he played, but Co was pretty heavily into it, dropping approximately $1 million on in-game purchases. Ars Technica got its hands on a copy of the plea agreement and reported that Co spent all that money playing Machine Zone's online strategy title Game of War.
Related
- Kanye West's Latest Target: In-App PurchasesKanye West's Latest Target: In-App Purchases
"The strategy game sees players building empires with soldiers and attacking other players who are doing the same," Ars Technica notes. "The deeper you go, the more likely you'll shell out cash."
On top of that, he used a portion of the embezzled funds to carry out a money laundering scheme to conceal the origin of the cash.
Co is scheduled to be sentenced on May 26, 2017, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the wire fraud charge. He's also facing a 20 year max prison sentence and a fine of up to $500,000 for the money laundering charge.