In a jaw-dropping exposé, new particulars reveal how the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG)—a taxpayer-funded pandemic reduction program established to avoid wasting companies and unbiased arts organizations—allegedly became a monetary free-for-all for Hollywood celebrities.
Signed into regulation by then-President Donald Trump in 2020 and championed by figures like Senator Chuck Schumer, this system aimed to help struggling venues through the pandemic.
However in response to a Business Insider report, it has now turn out to be synonymous with wasteful spending by high-profile stars.
Lil Wayne, whose actual title is Dwayne Carter Jr., obtained an $8.9 million grant. As a substitute of directing these funds towards sustaining his music operations, he reportedly spent over $1.3 million on non-public jet flights and greater than $460,000 on designer clothes from manufacturers like Gucci and Balenciaga.
Moreover, he billed taxpayers almost $88,000 for a New 12 months’s Eve live performance in Coachella, California, which he finally canceled, and $14,900 for “thriller ladies” lodge stays.
Equally, Chris Brown’s firm, CBE Touring, secured a $10 million grant. Brown personally pocketed $5.1 million and used roughly $80,000 to fund a lavish celebration, full with “ambiance fashions,” an LED dance flooring, and different extravagances.
Additionally, $179,000 for a charity baseball recreation, and $24,000 for a tour bus to New Mexico, the place he reportedly vacationed for a month.
The abuse didn’t cease with rappers. Pop and EDM stars additionally joined the money seize:
- DJ Marshmello (Christopher Comstock) reportedly obtained $9.9 million, along with his enterprise supervisor claiming the cash went instantly into Comstock’s private account.
- Steve Aoki’s firm DJ Child Millionaire Touring used $2.4 million for “payroll prices,” with $1.9 million going to Aoki himself—the one officer of the corporate.
Even rock bands like Shinedown obtained in on the motion, splitting $2.5 million amongst three members from their $8.3 million grant.
Alice in Chains members took giant distributions from their grant, regardless of promoting their catalog for $48 million.
The scandal extends to leisure administration companies like NKSFB, which reportedly secured a minimum of $207 million for shoppers and pocketed over $7 million in charges for facilitating the grants.
What started as a lifeline for struggling venues through the pandemic has unraveled into what some have referred to as “the most important fraud in historical past.”
The Gateway Pundit reported earlier this yr {that a} report released by the Division of Justice (DOJ) COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Job Pressure uncovered a stunning scope of fraud through the pandemic, with over $400 billion in emergency funding both stolen or misappropriated.
In accordance with the report, fraudulent claims and schemes focused numerous pandemic reduction efforts, together with unemployment insurance coverage advantages, Paycheck Safety Program (PPP) loans, and Financial Harm Catastrophe Loans (EIDLs), amongst others.
These included fraudulent claims filed utilizing stolen identities, inflated payroll bills, doctored financial institution statements, and false tax kinds.
The report reveals that fraudsters and swindlers might have stolen upwards of $280 billion in emergency funding, with an extra $123 billion misplaced or misappropriated, totaling greater than $400 billion in funds meant to assist People throughout one of the crucial difficult occasions in current historical past, The Politics Brief reported.
Even Democrat powerhouse Nancy and Paul Pelosi cashed in on federal COVID bailouts.
RealClearInvestigations reported:
“The Auberge du Soleil funding, held for many years by Paul Pelosi, has hardly ever turned a major profit, in response to Nancy’s monetary disclosure kinds. In some years, he has recorded a loss or a revenue of between $50,000 to $100,000. However the yr of the bailout cash stands aside. In 2021, Pelosi’s ethics kinds present that her household’s revenue from the resort surged to a variety of $1 million to $5 million.
The French Riviera-themed resort will not be most individuals’s concept of a struggling enterprise in want of a authorities bailout, but the Auberge du Soleil – which shuttered briefly on the outset of the pandemic earlier than swiftly rebounding – obtained about $9 million from a collection of particular taxpayer-funded emergency reduction packages.”