He pretended to be part of Wu-Tang Clan, feds say. Now a Florida man is going to prison
He had nothing to do with Wu-Tang Clan, authorities say.
Nor Roc Nation.
But Aaron Barnes-Burpo portrayed himself as an affiliate of the legendary hip-hop group and the production company founded by Jay-Z to rent luxury limos and steal from hotels, caterers and studios across the Southeast, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
Barnes-Burpo, a 29-year-old Crestview, Florida, man, was sentenced Monday to seven years in federal prison and ordered to repay almost $300,000 to 19 businesses he’s accused of defrauding.
Barnes-Burpo and Walker Washington, a 52-year-old man from Augusta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the scheme. Washington hasn’t been sentenced.
“For several weeks, these men defrauded multiple businesses by posing as famous musical artists and their retinue,” Acting U.S. Attorney David Estes said in a news release. “Thanks to an alert hotel clerk, their phony hit parade came to an abrupt halt.”
Authorities say employees at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Augusta alerted the FBI and sheriff’s office to suspicious activity in November 2019, unraveling the scam.
Authorities say a man who identified himself as “Mark Jones” with Roc Nation reserved 10 rooms at the hotel with a credit card stolen from a Kansas resident, the Augusta Chronicle reported.
Additionally, they emailed the hotel using the alias Kedar Massenberg, authorities say. Kedar Massenburg, whose last name is spelled slightly different, is a former president of Motown records and credited with bringing Erykah Badu to fame, according to GQ.
Barnes-Burpo and Washington arrived at the hotel in a limo the next day with two “bodyguards,” who later told investigators they were homeless in Atlanta before they were hired, the newspaper reported.
Another alias used by Barnes-Burpo was Juan Perez, authorities say. Perez is a longtime associate of Jay-Z’s and the husband of Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, according to Variety.
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