A Tennessee rapper who released a song in September about defrauding California’s Employment Development Department was arrested after he allegedly applied for more than $1.2 million in jobless benefits.
Fontrell Antonio Baines, a 31-year-old whose stage name is Nuke Bizzle, was arrested “pursuant to a criminal complaint alleging a scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act),” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Baines also allegedly exploited the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Provision of the CARES Act. The provision expanded unemployment benefit eligibility requirements to self-employed workers, independent contractors, “and others who would not otherwise be eligible.”
“According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Baines possessed and used debit cards pre-loaded with unemployment benefits administered by the California Employment Development Department (EDD),” the Justice Department wrote. “The debit cards were issued in the names of third-parties, including identity theft victims. The applications for these debit cards listed addresses to which Baines had access in Beverly Hills and Koreatown.”
The DOJ’s investigation uncovered at least 92 debit cards in connection with the scheme.
On Sept. 11, Baines released a music video on his YouTube page called “EDD.” The first 20 seconds samples an automated message from the EDD saying, “Your card has been activated and is ready for use.” It continues, “The available balance on this account is $21,652.”
In the video, Baines boasts about his “swagger for EDD,” saying that he’s getting rich by “go[ing] to the bank with a stack of these.” A second rapper in the video says, “You gotta sell cocaine. I just file a claim.”
Baines was arrested on Sept. 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada. When police apprehended him, they found seven debit cards with other people’s names on them in his possession.
“The criminal complaint alleges three felony offenses: access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and interstate transportation of stolen property. If convicted of all of these charges, Baines would face a statutory maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison,” the DOJ’s statement said.
