A Baltimore-area rapper by the name of Chad Focus, real name Chad Arrington, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after using a company credit card to spend $4.1 million to boost his rap career. Arrington did catch a break, however, as part of his plea deal, federal authorities agreed to drop six related charges which include wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to U.S. Attorney Derek Hines, Arrington “fraudulently bought followers, tags and views in order to make himself seem more popular." The Baltimore Sun notes Hines as saying "Arrington spent $125,000 of the company’s money on concert tickets, including to his own concerts. He also used the company’s credit card to pay for a service to artificially inflate the play count for his songs on music streaming services."
The court declined to disclose the name of the company, however, The Baltimore Sun reports that "his LinkedIn page said he was working at the time in search engine optimization for Money Map Press, a subsidiary of the Baltimore publishing firm The Agora Companies."
Source: baltimoresun.com
