Rapper Sentenced For Tax Fraud

YONKERS, NY — The recording artist and actor known as DMX was sentenced for tax fraud Wednesday. Earl Simmons, 47, of Yonkers, had been accused of engaging in a multi-year scheme to conceal millions of dollars of income from the IRS.

Prosecutors said Simmons, performing as DMX, made millions from his chart-topping songs, concert performances and television shows.

From 2010 through 2016, Simmons avoided paying $1.7 million of tax liabilities. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 2017, before United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who imposed yesterday's sentence.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Earl Simmons, the recording artist and performer known as DMX, stole from the American taxpayers when he earned millions of dollars but failed to pay any taxes on his income," Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the announcement. "Today’s sentence shows that star power does not entitle people to a free pass. Together with our partners at the IRS, we will vigorously enforce our tax laws to make sure that people pay their fair share.”

According to the Indictment and statements made in open court:

In 2005, the IRS began efforts to collect Simmons' unpaid tax liabilities.

During the period from 2010 through 2015, Simmons earned more than $2.3 million, but did not file personal income tax returns during that time period.

Instead, he orchestrated a scheme to evade payment of his outstanding tax liabilities, largely by maintaining a cash lifestyle, avoiding the use of a personal bank account, and using the bank accounts of nominees, including his business managers, to pay personal expenses. For example, he received hundreds of thousands of dollars of royalty income from his music recordings. He caused that income to be deposited into the bank accounts of his managers, who then disbursed it to him in cash or used it to pay his personal expenses.

He also participated in the “Celebrity Couples Therapy” television show in 2011 and 2012 and was paid $125,000 for his participation. When taxes were withheld from the check for the first installment of that fee by the producer, he refused to tape the remainder of the television show until the check was reissued without withholding taxes.

Simmons took other steps to conceal his income from the IRS and others, including by filing a false affidavit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that listed his income as “unknown” for 2011 and 2012, and as $10,000 for 2013. In fact, he received hundreds of thousands of dollars of income in each of those years, prosecutors said.

In addition to his prison sentence, Simmons was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $ 2,292,200 in restitution to the IRS.

SEE ALSO:

• Rapper DMX, Local Resident, Files for Bankruptcy
• Rapper DMX Reportedly In NH For Drug Treatment
• Rapper DMX Accused Of Tax Fraud

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