This sure isn’t anything pretty. A member of Pretty Ricky is getting the book thrown at him for his involvement in a $24 million relief fra-ud scheme.
Baby Blue, whose real name is Diamond Blue Smith, and Tonye C. Johnson of Flourtown, Pa., have been cha-rged with wire fra-ud, bank fr-aud, and con-spiracy to commit wire fr-aud and bank fr-aud for their al*eged roles related to a multi-million dollar COVID relief fra-ud scheme.
The 36-year-old “Gri-nd With Me” rapper was arr-ested and appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Regina D.Cannon of the Northern District of Georgia.
According to the Department of Justice, the “Love & Hip Hop: Miami” star used falsified documents to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan for over $425,000 for his company, Throwbackjersey.com LLC, and a loan for over $700,000 for his other company, Blue star Records LLC.
The late 1990s R&B/Hip Hop artist also so-calling purchased a Ferrari worth nearly $100,000 and other luxury goods with the funds.
The FBI’s investigation revealed Smith was so-calling part of a broader scheme convincing others to file for the funds while taking k!ckbacks. There are at least 11 other def*ndants.
Additionally, the complaints all*ge that the scheme “involved the preparation of at least 90 fra-udulent applications… worth more than $24 million.” Many of which were approved and funded “paying out at least $17.4 million.” PPP loans were meant for qualifying small businesses to receive money in an emergency and forgivable loans due to impa-cts from the pan*emic, as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act.
So-calling, Congress discovered more than $1 billion dollars in relief aid was fra-udulently obtained. In August, Smith found himself in hot water when a woman who was reportedly pregnant with his child acc*sed the rapper of phys!cal as*ault, so-calling that he pu*ched her in the stomach while pregnant.
This Article First Published On NYDAILYNEWS