Eleven men associated with a Brooklyn, New York-based gang were charged on Feb. 17 for allegedly stealing more than $4 million in COVID-19 relief funds, and also rapping about it in a music video.
The 11 suspects used personal information from 800 people to submit unemployment claims that were worth about $20 million. The feds say they gained $4.3 million from the unemployment program between March 2020 and October 2021.
Members of the NYPD Intelligence Bureau noticed that members of the gang were making trips, renting houses, posting stacks of cash on social media, and buying expensive cars.
In the music video titled “Trappin’,” the members bragged about stealing the money. “Unemployment got us workin’ a lot,” they said in the video.
The feds also recovered text messages from one of the suspects sent to a person known as “Skyscraper,” who was selling driver’s license information for $150.
Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, says that they will continue to go after people who are stealing money from taxpayer-funded programs.
“These government programs are designed to provide financial assistance to those who are most in need during an unprecedented pandemic,” Peace said. “This office and its law enforcement partners will vigorously prosecute gang members and anyone else who exploits the pandemic and steals from taxpayer-funded programs.”
