New Orleans native Lil Wayne has been accused of lying about his drug use during the Covid-19 pandemic to secure a $9million Small Business Administration (SBA) loan. Wayne used the government loan to allow him to continue touring.
In order to secure an SBA loan, business owners must ensure that they’re operating a “drug-free workplace.” However, the Louisiana lyricist was actively smoking marijuana during the period that he claimed the use of narcotics was non-existent concerning his company.
Many artists applied for loans during the pandemic, including Lil Wayne and Post Malone, who both operate independent touring companies. The recent information was obtained by journalists at the Business Insider, who recently submitted a request for freedom of information.
Business Insider has claimed that the claims were received through fraudulent information and has insisted that the Small Business Administration didn’t take into account the drug use of the company’s owners before agreeing to loans.
In response to the report, the SBA has released a statement reading, “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.”
The statement continued, “Additional files have been referred for ongoing criminal investigation or civil recovery. To date, none of the recoveries relate to the drug-free certification.”
In other Lil Wayne news, the artist (real name Dwayne Carter) and his chef have settled a lawsuit out of court concerning the culinarian’s wrongful termination. The lawsuit was settled on March 7th, according to papers filed by the attorney for Morghan Medlock.