Rapper Nuke Bizzle Arrested After Bragging About Unemployment Fraud in Song

Rapper Nuke Bizzle in music video for his song "EDD"

Rapper Nuke Bizzle, who boasted in a YouTube video about getting rich through unemployment benefits, has been arrested for an alleged scheme to illegally obtain more than $1 million in unemployment payments, authorities said.

California’s Employment Development Department is commonly referred to as “EDD.”

On Friday, NBC Los Angeles reported that officials accused the hip-hop artist — whose recent song “EDD” references getting rich through unemployment benefits — of unlawfully receiving COVID-19 benefits in California through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

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The rapper’s real name is Fontrell Antonio Baines. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California said in a statement that Baines allegedly used stolen identities to apply for unemployment benefits through the EDD.

The criminal complaint includes three felony offenses — access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and interstate transportation of stolen property.

Authorities said 92 debit cards loaded with a total of more than $1.2 million in unemployment benefits were mailed to addresses that Baines had access to across Los Angeles.

If convicted, he faces 22 years behind bars on charges including access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

In his music video, Baines is shown holding up a stack of envelopes that appear to be from the EDD, and boasting about going “to the bank with a stack of these.”

A disclaimer on the video says it was “created with props and was made for entertainment purposes.”