Rapper Scams $1.2M in COVID-19 Relief, Gloats with ‘EDD’ Video
“Nuke Bizzle” faces 22 years in prison after brazenly bragging about an identity-theft campaign in his music video, “EDD.” Rapper Fontrell Antonio Baines, who goes by the stage name “Nuke Bizzle,” made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles on Friday after being charged with fraudulently applying for more than $1.2 million in jobless benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. Allegedly, Baines was able to defraud the California Employment Development Department (EDD) into distributing CARES Act relief payments under the Pandemic Employment Assistance (PUA) provision, the statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The PUA is intended to aid independent contractors who aren’t typically eligible for unemployment benefits. Prosecutors claimed he use
