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Games

This Guy Poured $1 Mil of Stolen Funds into His Mobile 'Game of War' Account

He's now facing up to 20 years in prison and has to pay $4.5 million in restitution, unless one of his old bosses will accept a beefed up 'Game of War' account in lieu of cash.

Blame it on the Kate Upton commercials or just an insatiable appetite to build up a virtual army, but a California man is facing 20 years in prison after stealing millions from his former employer and spending a big chunk on the multiplayer mobile game, Game of War.

The guy, Kevin Lee Co, reportedly pulled an Office Space at Holt—a heavy machinery company where he worked—by slowly siphoning off money with fake credit card transactions, the Washington Post reports. Over a period of seven years, Co racked up almost $5 million. He spent some of the ill-gotten cash on the usual stuff, like fancy cars, 49ers season tickets, and a little plastic surgery, but also wound up dropping around $1 million on his Game of War account.

The thing with mobile games like Game of War is that even though the app is free to download, players eventually reach a point where they need to shell out a few bucks to buy new weapons and other upgrades in order to keep up. According to VentureBeat, the average GoW player drops $550 a year on the game, but since Co had a steady stream of embezzled funds coming in, he decided to go all in until Holt caught up with his scam.

Co's now facing decades in prison. He also has to pay his former employer $4.5 million in restitution, unless one of his old bosses will accept a beefed up Game of War profile in lieu of cash.