DMX pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of tax evasion charges and now he is facing years in prison.
The New York rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was arrested on Friday and later released on a whopping $500,000 bond. News broke online earlier this week that DMX was slapped with over a dozen counts of tax evasion. According to TMZ, X owes a whopping $1.7 million to the IRS on income from 2002 through 2005. The IRS says it tried to collect the dough from DMX but he ignored them the entire time.
“While raking in millions from his songs, including his 2003 hit ‘X Gon’ Give it to Ya,’ DMX didn’t give any of it to the IRS,” Acting US Attorney Joon Kim said in a statement. The IRS also claimed that DMX earned over $2.3 million between 2010 and 2015 but did not file any tax return during that period. X also lied about his income during a bankruptcy filing where he reported that he made only $10,000 the entire year, but he actually made $250,000.
The rap legend reportedly hides his earnings by using cash only to make transactions and even let his manager collect his royalty checks in his account and disburse it to him in cash. DMX avoid bank accounts at all cost.
