Rapper Nuke Bizzle, 31, whose real name is Fontrell Antonio Baines, has been arrested after bragging in a music video about getting rich by fraudulently applying for unemployment benefits.
The artist has been accused of defrauding more than $ 1.2 million from the federal unemployment program, according to authorities, and could face up to 22 years in prison.
Baines, a Memphis native who lives in Los Angeles, allegedly used stolen identities to allegedly defraud the state Department of Employment Development, the Central California District Attorney's office reported.
The money is part of the federal aid from the CARES law that was distributed due to the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The musician, who was arrested on Friday, has been charged with three felonies: criminal use of an access device, aggravated identity theft and interstate transportation of stolen property, according to federal prosecutors.
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The rapper was investigated after posting a video clip on YouTube in which he boasts of having a plan to obtain unemployment benefits.
In the pictures he apparently shows dozens of benefit letters and bank cards.
In the
EDD
music video
, in alleged reference to the California Employment Development Department, Baines raps about "wavering EDD" and holds up a pile of envelopes presumably from the agency, chanting that he's getting rich by "going to the bank with a pile of these. "
[They steal millions in unemployment benefits, causing harm to those waiting for benefits. Some scams are made from jail]
Investigators allege it is a reference to debit cards that are mailed to recipients of unemployment insurance.
A second rapper in the video says, "If you have to sell cocaine, just file one claim."
According to authorities, 92 debit cards with $ 1.2 million in federal aid were sent to postal addresses Baines had access to in Beverly Hills and the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The rapper withdrew more than $ 704,000 in cash.
When he was arrested on September 23, he was carrying eight bank cards, of which seven were not in his name, according to court documents.
[This Latino escaped from jail 46 years ago. His victim has finally caught him in New Mexico thanks to a message]
Identity theft fraud accounted for about 3% of all jobless claims last year, according to government audits.
In September, Arizona detected more than a million potential fraud among the 2.4 million unemployment claims that were filed, according to The New York Times newspaper.
Colorado discovered over the summer that 77% of requests had been irregular.
With information from the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.
