A wannabe rapper from Maryland was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for stealing more than $ 4 million from his employer as part of a scheme to boost his music career.
Chad Arrington, 33, who went by the stage name “Chad Focus”, used a company credit card to fulfill his dreams – including buying a billboard in Times Square and followers on social media, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Sentencing his sentence on Wednesday, a Baltimore County man said he had failed his community, and that in his case he was humiliated by publicity.
“I let the city down; I disappointed the youth.
The report stated that Arrington worked as an SEO specialist for Arlington, a subsidiary of a Baltimore-area media firm, when he began accusing his company-issued American Express card.
Between January 2015 and August 2018, Arrington used the card to control his ambitious hip-hop career and promote his own business, Focus Music Entertainment LLC.
Prosecutors said Arrington paid to artificially promote his song play counts on the music streaming platform and buy “Like,” “Followers” “Tag” and “View” on social media.
They also bought billboards across the country – Times Square includes a Branding her as “the # 1 recording artist in the world”.
Another Billboard read “I’ll Teach You To Be Rich” and promoted Arlington’s Instagram account, the newspaper reported.
To conceal the fraud charges, prosecutors say Arrington forged his supervisor’s signature on the credit card statements and asked the two co-conspirators to give some entries to the doctor.
He Found guilty In February 2020 on charges of conspiracy to commit federal wire fraud.
His plea asked him to pay more than $ 4 million in reinstatement.
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