The last thing you’d expect from Pokemon, a franchise about capturing and training adorable critters for battle, is to be associated with criminal activity but it looks like crime syndicates have been using Pokemon trading cards for money laundering schemes.
As reported by Shunkai Gendai Online (translation by Automaton), a former crime syndicate head is behind a growing, large-scale Pokemon trading card money laundering scheme. Criminals will pursue the rarest and most expensive Pokemon cards as they sell for thousands of dollars online. In most cases, criminals won’t actually travel with cash so they purchase expensive goods – in this case, Pokemon cards that rarely depreciate in price – that can then be resold in another country for its stronger local currency.
In most cases, those involved in money laundering would use expensive watches or other big-ticket items that ensured a high resale value, though it seems like Pokemon trading cards are part of the equation now. Firstly, they’re very easy to travel with and keep in suitcases without drawing too much attention to them. Airport security probably won’t question why you’re travelling with a shiny Charizard or Mew.
Secondly, criminals can transport hundreds, if not thousands of expensive, rare cards at a time because they’re compact. The value of some Pokemon cards are absurdly high and usually don’t dip in price regardless of country, making them high-value items for criminals.
We’re honestly surprised it took this long for Pokemon trading cards to be used in this way, unless this was meant to be a trade secret among money launderers. Nintendo has a history of laying down the hammer of the law when it comes to criminal activity so we’ll have to wait and see if The Pokemon Company intervenes in these operations or if money laundering just got much trickier for police to track.
Source: Automaton
