Rapper DMX is back behind bars after running afoul of America’s Internal Revenue Service. The 46-year-old NY native is charged with scheming to conceal $1.7 million in back taxes from the IRS.
The rapper was arrested Thursday and charged with income tax fraud — a charge that carries a sentence of 44 years in federal prison if convicted.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York claims the “X Gon’ Give It to Ya” hitmaker concealed his income for years.
In documents obtained by gossip tabloid TMZ, officials charged DMX, real name Earl Simmons, with using the bank accounts of associates instead of his own to hide his earnings. So far, no one else is charged in the scheme.
The embattled hip-hop star performed with Sean Combs in his Bad Boy Reunion tour last October before entering a drug rehab treatment center in Southern California in April 2017.
When the news of his latest rehab stay first hit the headlines, the rapper’s manager Pat Gallo confirmed the star would be taking time off to “focus on his health so that he can be a better father, friend and entertainer”, according to WENN.com.
Gallo added, “We are eternally grateful for the outpouring of concern and support that has poured in. We ask that you please keep X in your prayers as he embraces your support.”
DMX is seen in a 2013 police booking photo after his arrest for an outstanding warrant while driving with a suspended license and possession of marijuana in Greer, South Carolina.
