ELIZABETH, NJ (CelebrityAccess) — Two New Jersey residents have been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from multiple victims in a fake concert scheme.
According to acting Union County Prosecutor Michael Monahan, Yusuf Nadir, 45, and Natiyah Flagg, 28, of Elizabeth, NJ are charged with two counts of third-degree theft by deception; Nadir is also charged with two counts of third-degree misconduct by a corporate official, while Flagg is also charged with two counts of third-degree conspiracy to commit misconduct by a corporate official.
Prosecutors allege that the criminal charges stemmed from a year-long investigation and they allege that Nadir impersonated various real music industry professionals, and using those false identities, convinced investors to sign contracts for high profile artists such as Lil Wayne and Lil Yachty to perform.
The two would then use money from those contracts to pay for personal expenses.
Special Prosecutions Unit Sgt. David Nechamkin, who led the investigation, alleged that Flagg’s name was used to establish and incorporate multiple music industry-related businesses, of which she was listed as president, and Flagg also opened multiple bank accounts in the name of those fictitious businesses.
Relying on Nadir’s verbal and written misrepresentations, a total of five victims working as two separate business groups electronically transferred more than $60,000 into multiple accounts associated with the two defendants, who would then immediately withdraw the funds for their own personal use, the prosecutor’s office alleged.
Convictions on third-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by 3 to 5 years in state prison.
Nadir was arrested in 2011 on similar charges.
