Man embezzles $5M...Spends $1M on Game of War

[Jumper_Dad]

A California man steals $5 million, spends $1 million on 'Game of War' cellphone game - SFGate

 

From about May 2008 to March 2015, he engaged in a scheme to defraud almost $5 million from his employer Holt , a heavy machinery company based in California. Co managed Holt's accounting department and as the company's controller, Co oversaw Holt's commercial credit account. Co abused that authority to conduct hundreds of unauthorized credit card transactions on the company's account, to manipulate and falsify records regarding the credit account and to mislead the bank that held the credit account when it made inquiries to Co about suspicious transactions.

 

In total, he must pay Holt $4,542,236.08 in restitution, and he potentially faces decades in prison. He has not yet been sentenced.

 

The amount of money he stole would change most people's lives, and it seemed to have changed Co's as well. Among the things he spent it on are the expected - luxury cars, season tickets to see the Sacramento Kings and the San Francisco 49ers.

 

Some of his other extravagances included "plastic surgery expenses" and a membership at the exclusive Whitney Oaks Golf Club in Rocklin, California.

 

Easily the strangest expenditure was money spent on playing "Game of War," a smartphone game that is considered a freemium app - referring to a game that costs nothing to acquire but requires monetary purchases in-game. In other words, if you want better weaponry or some such within the game, you can purchase it.

 

The average paying player spent $550 on the game in 2015, according to VentureBeat.

Co spent approximately $1 million.

 

Currently, the game, which bills itself as "the world's largest multiplayer strategy game" with "millions . . . battling for domination," earns an estimated $1.6 million a day.

[JDEaston]

My cousin works for a company in San Francisco that develops these type of games for smartphones and tablets, when he told me how much money spend to get "taps" to keep playing I about fell on the floor. He told me that there was a customer from the United Emirates that had spent well over a million dollars. Absurd.

[Lawnboy13]

I'm sure he has the restitution money lying around. LOL

[littleluck55]

His parents basement must be really sweet.