IRS Seized $31,000 Watch and Scarface Poster from Rapper Young Buck’s Home

The Internal Revenue Service seized a movie poster of the Al Pacino remake of “Scarface,” along with a Breitling Bentley wristwatch, when it raided the home of rap singer Young Buck earlier this month.

The IRS raided the 29-year-old hip hop performer’s home in Hendersonville, Tenn., on Aug. 3, and removed tens of thousands of dollars worth of property, according to recently unsealed court records cited by The Tennessean. The IRS claims he owes over $300,000 in delinquent taxes for 2006-2008, and that he failed to make payments after he was thrice notified of the tax debts in 2008 and 2009. His lawyers filed a motion in July to protect the assets, but that did not stop the raid.

Other confiscated items included platinum records, recording equipment, video game systems, computers, jewelry and furniture.

Young Buck, whose real name is David Darnell Brown, blamed his accountants, lawyers and managers when he described the IRS raid in a statement earlier this month.

“This IRS situation came about because I trusted accountants, lawyers and managers to handle my business for me while I focused on making music,” he said, according to MTV News. “From now on, I am going to stay on top of my own business.”

Brown also described some of the other items seized by IRS agents, including property belonging to family members. “The worst part of this isn’t the material stuff — that will all be replaced,” he wrote. “It’s what it does it does to the people around me. They took my kids’ PlayStation, my assistants’ computers, and baby’s mother’s jewelry. They took my home studio, so I can’t even record.”

Brown also faulted his record label for not taking better care of his financial interests. He has been in a long-running legal battle to sever his contractual ties with fellow rapper 50 Cent’s G-Unit Records, which prevented him from releasing his own songs after he was ejected from 50 Cent’s group G-Unit in April 2008. He reportedly has just recently been released from the contract and plans to announce the news, according to the website HipHopDX.

“I have a new team in place, but I am also paying full attention now,” he said in the statement he released after the raid. “Nothing like this will ever happen again. This is a huge wake-up call for all entertainers to stay on top of your own trusted employees and team members, and replace anyone that was put in place by your record label if the situation you have goes sour.”

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY