Baltimore Artist Facing Up To 20 Years After Allegedly Spending $4.1M On Company Card

Baltimore artist Chad Focus is facing up to 20 years in federal prison after allegedly spending $4.1 million on a company credit card to fund his music career.

Currently, the artist is facing charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Chad Focus, whose real name is Chad Arrington, was indicted by a grand jury on May 29 in connection with the allegations.

According to Pitchfork, the indictment claims that "while Arrington was employed as an SEO specialist at an unnamed company, he and four unnamed co-conspirators used a company-issued American Express card to spend millions in fraudulent purchases."

The fraudulent charges, which occurred between January 2015 and August 2018, mostly went towards funding Arrington's music career. It is believed that the company money was used to purchase audio equipment, fake streams and follows for his songs and social media accounts, and billboards appearing in Times Square and around the country.

There are also claims against Arrington that the company American Express card was used to purchase "concert tickets, travel, and other nightlife expenses." Complex discussed how Arrington allegedly avoided detection, stating that the former SEO specialist was "faking credit card statements and forging signatures of supervisors within the company."