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MC HAMMER AND WIFE OWE IRS $800,000 IN BACK TAXES
The famous hip-hop artist known for his baggy pants now has to pay up to Uncle Sam.
MC Hammer, the hip-hop artist famous in the late ’80s and early ’90s for wearing overly baggy pants and singing the hit songs “U Can’t Touch This” and “2 Legit 2 Quit,” owes the Internal Revenue Service nearly $800,000 in back taxes, according to court documents originally obtained by TMZ.
According to those documents, the U.S. government sued Hammer and his wife Stephanie, accusing them of not paying $798,033.48 on their 1996 and 1997 income taxes.
A pioneer of pop rap, Hammer was the first hip-hop artist to achieve diamond status on an album.
Now, due to his tax problems, all money that Hammer’s company brings in will go to the IRS until the debt is paid.
GARY, IND., COUNCILMAN GUILTY OF TAX CHARGES
A member of the Gary, Ind., City Council pleaded guilty to willfully failing to file income tax returns for the 2008 and 2009 calendar years.
Ronier Scott, 42, admitted in his plea agreement that he chose not to file income tax returns for 2008 and 2009. The agreement says Scott’s wife will not be prosecuted for tax crimes.
“He takes full responsibility for his actions,” Scott’s lawyer, Kerry Connor, told an Indiana newspaper.
In an editorial, the Times of Northwest Indiana called on Scott to resign from his elected office, writing: “Scott owes it to the citizens of Gary to remove himself from office so the citizens can have honest representation.”
WOMAN IN MIAMI SENT TO PRISON FOR FAILING TO REPORT $2.3 MILLION
A Miami-Dade County, Fla., resident was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $687,475.00 in restitution after pleading guilty to tax evasion.
According to court records, between 2006 and 2009, Annabel Cooper evaded the payment of income taxes to the IRS by failing to accurately report her true income on her tax filing.
The total amount of income Cooper failed to report during the tax years in question was approximately $2.32 million.
The resulting tax loss to the United States was approximately $687,475.
BUSINESSMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX EVASION
The Ala. businessman was ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion.
A Huntsville, Ala., man was sentenced to five years of probation for tax evasion and ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution to the government.
Paul Bracy Jr., 71, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.
Bracy owned several small businesses, including Bracy’s Vending and the Green Room Lounge in Madison County and PBS Blues Bar in Macon County. Bracy also owned four pieces of real estate, two in Madison County, one in Choctaw County and one in Mobile County.
According to court records, the IRS was about to determine Bracy was personally responsible for $60,995 in unpaid taxes associated with businesses he owned when Bracy conveyed the four pieces of real property, via “sham transactions,” to others in order to avoid IRS seizure of the properties to satisfy the outstanding tax amount.
As part of his plea agreement, Bracy agreed to pay the $3.7 million in restitution to the government.
“Business owners have a responsibility to withhold income taxes for their employees and then remit those taxes to the Internal Revenue Service,” Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot said in a statement. “The failure to pay over withheld taxes is a serious offense. IRS Criminal Investigation vigorously pursues anyone who collects taxes and fails to timely remit those taxes.”
DALLAS MAN GETS PRISON FOR REFUNDS
He filed 391 false tax returns requesting more than $1 million in false refunds.
A Dallas, Texas, man was convicted in Idaho and sentenced to 21 months in prison for conspiracy to file false claims for a refund.
Lawrence Sikutwa, 34, who pleaded guilty to the charge, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1.47 in restitution to the IRS.
Sikutwa operated a tax preparation business in Dallas. Through co-conspirators, he obtained clients’ tax documents and then prepared tax returns.
Sikutwa added false dependents and false income, falsely claimed head-of-household status, and made other entries to increase the refund.
He distributed a small portion of the actual refund to the taxpayer, representing it was the entire refund, and failed to provide copies of the returns to the taxpayers. Sikutwa admitted that he was aware the tax returns were false.
In all, Sikutwa filed 391 tax returns requesting $1.7 million in refunds.
E.R. DOCTOR SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR TAX CHARGES
An Atlanta emergency room doctor was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for willfully failing to file individual income tax returns for tax years 2008 and 2009.
According to court records, Dr. Michael Austin, 57, of Atlanta, Ga., earned at least $213,931 in 2008 and $210,644 in 2009, which required him to file an income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.
In his plea agreement, Austin admitted that he willfully failed to file an individual income tax return for both years. In total, Dr. Austin agreed to pay restitution of at least $215,906.44 to the IRS.
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