Credit Card Fraud Ain't Nuthin' Ta F' Wit: Duo Posing As Wu Tang Clan Rack Up $100K+ Charges In Atlanta
Shimmy shimmy ya, shimmy yam, shimmy yay
Gimme the keys so I can drive Royce away
Off on some credit card fraud, bon voyage
Yeah, our new home is fancy hotels, Atlanta squad
From the Atlanta Journal:
A crew of Rolls Royce-riding identity thieves who posed as rap industry figures scammed more than $100,000 from some of the South’s most exclusive hotels, prosecutors say.
The group told hotel workers they were with the entertainment firm Roc Nation and listed the rap group Wu-Tang Clan with at least one of the hotels, according to a criminal complaint filed this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
Among the charges they racked up? Let's see...
-The Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta: $45,000 unpaid bill
-Hyatt Regency Atlanta: $39,000 unpaid bill
Roll Royce Phantom rented from A-National Limousine: $60,000 loss on the car
Various Atlanta recording studios: $17,000 loss
Fancy hotels, high end car rental companies, savvy recording studios… And yet none of them caught on to the 'fake Wu Tang' Scam… In the end it was the :: record scratch :: Augusta Fairfield Inn & Suites that took them down??
The scam unraveled at a Fairfield Inn and Suites in Augusta, Georgia, where 10 rooms were booked, supposedly for an artist and his entourage. The reservation listed Roc Nation and the Wu-Tang Clan, prosecutors said. But the staff suspected a scam, and the hotel sales director called Roc Nation and was told the company was not associated with the men booking rooms.
After [Aaron] Barnes-Burpo tried to check in under the Roc Nation reservation, he and others with him were detained by Richmond County sheriff's deputies. Two others with the group told deputies they were homeless men from Atlanta who had been recruited by the defendants to be bodyguards. Others who traveled with them were not charged.
I feel like this was a couple guys who just said, "Fuck it" or dare I even say, "YOLO"… They had to have known they'd get caught eventually & decided to give it all they had. It's kind of like Ferris Bueller's Day Off… Fake Wu Tang Clan's Week Off.
They gathered up a whole squad, recorded some tunes, partied at the nicest hotels, cruised the city in a Rolls Royce (hopefully past an ex's house with the windows down for clout).. They lived large. Maybe they even led a flash musical number at a parade. And my goodness, what an extra touch that they picked up two homeless men & convinced them to act as body guards to sell the fraud plan. What a gig…
Unfortunately for that duo, they'll likely need to be protecting their necks in prison now…
Walker Washington and Aaron Barnes-Burpo are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Credit cards used in the scam included one that was stolen, and another that was likely fake, the complaint states.
No word yet from the actual Wu Tang Clan, but I'll have them close out the blog anyway.