Lil Wayne’s Company Accused Of Falsifying Workplace Drug Use To Receive $9 Million Pandemic Loan

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne’s Company Accused Of Falsifying Workplace Drug Use To Receive $9 Million Pandemic Loan

Could Lil Wayne be in trouble with the feds?

It was reported earlier this week that in 2021 — at the height of the coronavirus pandemic — hip-hop icon, Lil Wayne told the government that his touring company maintained a “drug-free workplace” to secure an $8.9 million loan for his company Young Money Touring Inc.

According to the reports, Lil Wayne said his employees were briefed on the “dangers” associated with drugs like cannabis, and they were warned of potential consequences, including disciplinary actions or mandatory rehabilitation.

Lil Wayne

The Small Business Admnistration (SBA) said last year that the agency didn’t really have time to inspect each application before distributing money. In fact, the SBA’s inspector general said employees were only given four hours to evaluate applications, making litle room for follow-up. The SBA is now looking into entities that were given money in an ongoing investigation.

It said,

“The SBA’s process of monitoring and auditing of grant recipients is actively ongoing. To date, about $40 million has been returned from SVOG grantees and additional files have been referred for ongoing criminal investigation or civil recovery. To date, none of the recoveries relate to the drug-free certification.”

The SBA also noted that its drug certification process was restricted and did not consider the entertainer’s lifestyle. It also did not consider any substance use between March 2020 and June 2022.

Lil Wayne

The funds came from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, which was created to help stop music companies and artists from having to file for bankruptcy. Prominent artists, many of whom were already wealthy and represented by the Los Angeles-based accounting and asset management firm NKSFB, received $200 million last year through the program.

Harold Pollack, a public health specialist at the University of Chicago, pointed out that celebrities’ drug use is often perceived differently.

He stated,

“When you have social status, your substance use is treated in a different way. They don’t brutalize a lot of celebrities for behaviors that we would very harshly treat in people with less prestige.”

At the time of this reporting, Lil Wayne has not made any public remarks about this matter.

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[VIA:1]