Pretty Ricky Member Indicted For PPP Fraud

Baby Blue Arrested on Paycheck Protection Loan Fraud

If you’re of a certain age, you’re probably familiar with the R&B group Pretty Ricky who made the song “Your Body” in the early 2000s. Well, one of the group’s members, Diamond Blue Smith, who goes by Baby Blue who’s also a cast member on Love & Hip Hop: Miami is in hot water over some alleged fraud.

That’s right. Police arrested him October 5, and a person named Tonye C. Johnson who owns a company called Synergy Towing & Transport LLC in Pennsylvania on Monday October 1.

According to court documents Baby Blue misappropriated $24 million in COVID-19 relief funds and spent it on a Ferrari. The Department of Justice has charged him with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

Court documents say they falsified documents to get a Paycheck Protection Program loan worth $426,717 for his company throwbackjersey.com LLC and got a $708,065 loan for his music label Blue Star Records, LLC.

Allegedly he withdrew $271,805 of the loan and used the money to buy a $96,000 Ferrari. The car and other luxury items were seized at the time of his arrest. 

The FBI's investigation revealed Smith was allegedly part of a broader scheme convincing others to file for the funds while taking kickbacks. There are at least 11 other defendants.

Paycheck protection loans were meant for small businesses to receive money in emergency and forgivable loans due to impacts from the pandemic. It was part of the $2 trillion CARES Act.

Baby Blue said in an Instagram post that he’s facing life in prison. And, while he should definitely spend at least 25 years in prison, I doubt he’ll get that long in prison. But if he does, hopefully he spends his time thinking about all the small business owners he screwed out of that money who had to close their doors because he's trash.

Coppell Texas Man Indicted on Paycheck Protection Program Fraud

And this other D-bag in Coppell Texas named Dinesh Sah, who a federal grand jury has indicted on 3 counts of wire fraud, 3 counts of fraud and one count of money laundering on Friday. Sah spent more than $17 million in PPP loans on bullshit...his lavish lifestyle.

He applied for the loans, using the pandemic to his advantage, and again, robbing small business owners of their livelihoods. According to the indictment, Sah submitted 15 fraudulent applications under various businesses that he owned or controlled to 8 different SBA lenders for about $24.8 million. 

Most of these businesses didn’t exist until after the CARES act was passed, and he claimed they had several employees with hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll expenses. They had none.

He also forged bank statements and falsified tax documents to support his applications. He received $17.7 million in loans, and he spent most of it on houses, a 2020 Bentley Convertible, and transferred millions to international bank accounts.

The government has currently sized more than $6.5 million of the money he received.

Illegal Ballot Collection Boxes Crop Up Around Southern and Central California 

The GOP has been caught committing the very fraud they claimed Democrats would do. Republican party members have been caught setting up fake ballot drop boxes here in the Blue state of California. The boxes were marked Official, misleading voters into dropping their official ballots into them.

It seems fans of Chester Cheetah realize he has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning an election in this state, and have resorted to the thing he’s done all his life...CHEATING! Elections Fraud is a felony, but there will likely be no one held accountable because the government refuses to punish the Cheeseball in Chief for any of his crimes.

These boxes have popped in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange Counties. Ventura County has also reported these boxes, The boxes were located outside of places like gun stores, GOP campaign headquarters, and other places frequented by party members.

For years the Republican party in California has accused the Democrats of election rigging. However, it appears the accusers are the guilty ones.

Ephren Taylor II's Church Scam

Hey bookworms!

Look at that. Two in a row...we must be doing alright this month. No, but seriously, last week was a blur and I have no idea what happened yesterday. Maybe we should start journaling again, and by we, I mean I. At least that way I'd have a concrete way to recall the week's events. Old age is rough, I can barely remember my own name half the time. Time for some memory enhancers. But onto this week's topic.

Ephren Taylor Steals Churgoers' Life Savings

What can we say about Ephren Taylor, other than he's a lowlife who swindled $16 million from members of several megachurches across the country? Promising them 20% returns, they gave him their life savings for investments into community-building programs like housing projects, shopping centers, and juices bars.

According to him, he made his first million at 16 by inventing video games. He sold one to a gaming company and became a millionaire which led him to become a socially conscious investor. He parlayed his experience into becoming a public speaker and financial advisor who began speaking at churches, gaining investors from the congregations. 

This type of scheme is called affinity fraud in which a scammer targets people who are members of a specific group such as religious groups, community members, or families. Everyone trusts each other, and in the church, the pastor, who has invited to scammer into the pulpit, is the most trustworthy person. They wouldn't lead the flock astray. But, eventually, the scammer gets away with his misdeeds because there's no accountability to anyone.

It was all a Ponzi scheme, however, and Taylor used investors' money to fund his lifestyle: paying bills, car payments, and apartment rent. He even went as far as to fund his wife Meshelle's aspirations of being a pop star, paying for studio time, and a music video called "Billionaire (I don't care). Check out the talent on Mrs. Taylor!

At one point Taylor paid out dividends to investors, but soon he was in the wind. When investors came looking for him, he went as far as to bolt office doors so he wouldn't have to account for the whereabouts of their money. Well, the SEC couldn't have that. It launched an investigation into Taylor and discovered his dastardly deeds, and needless to say, Taylor was in its crosshairs.

 By 2010 his scheme came crashing in and he went into hiding. But his wife's vanity led authorities to him.

Once apprehended Taylor was charged with fraud, and ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was also sentenced to pay more than $15 million in reparations to his victims. It's unlikely they'll see that money, however since  Ephren Taylor is a liar.

Stay tuned for next week when Sunni will bring us the story of another bastard who's robbed people of their hard-earned money.

Until then...don't get scammed.

We're Famous and You're Not and the Worst Guest Ever

Hey Bookworms! 

How was that? We don't have a "name" for everyone who listens. So, we thought we'd test out a few. Do you like being called bookworms? Let us know in the comments, or on Twitter or Instagram. 

Last week, we were featured on the YouTube true crime show, "Murder, Murder News" with Aurora Cady and Angelina. Check it out!

Murder Murder News

It was a good time. We got to talk about our inspiration and our favorite cases, and I even talk about the time I was duped into buying envelopes to stuff with Ponzi scheme mailers, only to realize I'd been scammed.

The Worst Guest Ever

So this week we discuss the weird happenings in Hawaii when a colonizer arrived to the Islands and thought he was revered as a God. Turns out, he was a guest who learned the hard way that when you're a visitor, you need to help do some dishes, or wash a load of laundry.

Not only did he act like an entitled child, he tried to kidnap King Kalaniʻōpuʻu. The Islanders weren't having it, and he got himself merked over his bullshit.

Check out the episode.

Until next week...Don't get scammed.