Man embezzles $5 million from work, spends $1 million on an iPhone game

According to a court filing in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, a man named Kevin Lee Co pleaded guilty to multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering. Working for a heavy equipment company named Holt California from 2008 to 2015, Co stole a total of $5 million from his employer. $1 million of that went to pay for "Game of War," which he played on his iPhone.

This is a game that allows players to battle against millions of other players from around the world. The game works on the freemium model, but in-app purchases allow players to build a war machine by stockpiling weapons. The average player spent $550 on the game in 2015.

Co also spent money on season tickets for the Sacramento Kings and the San Francisco 49'ers, plastic surgery and expensive luxury cars. He will be sentenced in May and faces a maximum prison term of 20-years. Game of War happens to be one of the most profitable mobile video games. It garners $1 million in revenue daily which allows developer Machine Zone to use models like Kate Upton to star in expensive commercials shown during the Super Bowl.

You can check out the court document detailing the plea by clicking on the sourcelink.

source: ArsTechnica (1), (2)

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