After not showing up for a scheduled court appearance to answer charges of tax evasion Beenie Man is now wanted in Jamaica with an arrest warrant being issued. Beenie Man stated he was on a video shoot and expected his lawyer to be present. Beenie Man will turn himself in today, upon his return to Jamaica.
The charges filed in court claim Beenie is owing back taxes in the amount of J$29,290,116, with penalties on the back taxes amounting to J$18,641,254. The combined total hits the height of J$47,931,371. The magistrate was clearly not impressed with the non appearance of Beenie Man.
Beenie is his defence stated he was in New York for a video shoot with rumoured love interest and fellow artiste Barbee. "Mi did have court today (yesterday) but mi did a shoot a video an mi reach in late, an mi end up wake up late, suh mi miss di flight. Suh a mi lawyer mi did a count on fi guh represent mi but mi nuh know wah happen ...," stated Beenie Man.
Beenie continued by saying his ex-manager and business partner, Patrick Roberts of Shocking Vibes, was tasked with handling his financial affairs, which according to Beenie Man included filing his tax returns. It comes as a shock to Beenie that Roberts did not file his returns.
"Dem (Government) sey mi owe dem from 'bout 1997-2002 an dah time deh mi deh a Shocking Vibes an Patrick Roberts is di man weh responsible fi everything. Him collect all a mi money, suh if mi need a car mi tell him wah model an him deal wid it, if mi want a house, mi tell him which part mi waan fi live an him guh buy it," Beenie said. "Suh personal tax an' dem ting deh him (Patrick) suppose fi deal wid. Suh, when me leave Shocking Vibes, mi leave wid mi two long hand dem an' mi talent. Ah just my personal money and resources mi leave wid. Suh every contract, show, tour mi do Shocking Vibes use to deal wid dem."
Beenie Man is no longer dealing with Patrick Roberts and has assigned his lawyer and accountant to attempt to untangle the mess. Patrick Roberts in his defence said, "The bottom line is that I remember paying quite a sum in February of last year, then came a ridiculous assessment. I wrote on behalf of the artiste to the Inland Revenue and when I wasn't getting anywhere with them, I then wrote to the Ministry of Finance for their intervention".
"I want to find out what is happening. Someone is trying to smear the artiste's character and at the same time we cannot pay what we don't earn. You cannot stay around a desk in an office and assess the music industry. The artiste is about hype and doing and saying things to keep them in the limelight and you cannot base assessment on this hype, the assessment is just ridiculous," he said.
Roberts says, "Beenie Man has never sold gold, he has only gone on interviews and said so and it is based upon utterances like those that these people are making such an assessment."
