Rio

Money. Psychology. Wealth.

[Rio @Riobzf]

Wesley Snipes went to prison for three years over taxes. When he came out, the IRS said he still owed $23.5 million. He offered them $842,061.

For years the star of Blade did not file federal tax returns.

In 2008 a jury cleared him of tax fraud and conspiracy. But he was convicted on three counts of willfully failing to file, for 1999, 2000 and 2001. One year in prison for each.

The judge pointed to his history of contempt for the tax laws. Snipes reported to federal prison in 2010 and walked out in 2013.

Then the bill came.

The IRS put his tax debt at about $23.5 million. Snipes offered a single payment of $842,061 to settle all of it. He said his financial adviser had taken out loans and sold off assets without his knowledge.

The IRS asked for proof. He couldn’t provide it.

In 2018 the Tax Court backed the IRS. The officer on his case calculated he could afford to pay about $9.5 million. The offer was rejected.

In the video below he is asked about his tax fight. I make movies, he says. I’m not a politician. I’m not saving the world.

Three years in prison did not erase the debt. Was the punishment fair, or did the IRS make an example of him?

[Rio @Riobzf]

Kevin Garnett says $77 million was taken from him. He never sued the man he says took it.

Garnett handed his finances to a wealth manager named Charles Banks. According to his lawsuit, Banks got him to put money into a company and then pulled money out of it, for years.

Garnett also had an accountant. The lawsuit says the accountant only ever dealt with Banks, never with Garnett himself, and knew Banks was "helping himself to millions of dollars of Garnett's money and did nothing about it."

So in 2018 Garnett sued the accountant for $77 million. The accountant denied it.

Banks was not named in the suit. By then he was already in prison, serving four years for defrauding another NBA legend, Tim Duncan.

In 2019 the case was closed after Garnett and the accounting firm reached a deal. The terms were never made public.

In the video below his old Celtics teammate Glen Davis explains how it happens: "Giving somebody full range like that, they take advantage."

Who was really to blame: the manager, the accountant who stayed quiet, or the man who signed it all over?

[Rio @Riobzf]

exactly. he trusted one guy with everything and nobody was checking him

[Rio @Riobzf]

Kevin Garnett says $77 million was taken from him. He never sued the man he says took it.

Garnett handed his finances to a wealth manager named Charles Banks. According to his lawsuit, Banks got him to put money into a company and then pulled money out of it, for years.

Garnett also had an accountant. The lawsuit says the accountant only ever dealt with Banks, never with Garnett himself, and knew Banks was "helping himself to millions of dollars of Garnett's money and did nothing about it."

So in 2018 Garnett sued the accountant for $77 million. The accountant denied it.

Banks was not named in the suit. By then he was already in prison, serving four years for defrauding another NBA legend, Tim Duncan.

In 2019 the case was closed after Garnett and the accounting firm reached a deal. The terms were never made public.

In the video below his old Celtics teammate Glen Davis explains how it happens: "Giving somebody full range like that, they take advantage."

Who was really to blame: the manager, the accountant who stayed quiet, or the man who signed it all over?

[Rio @Riobzf]

@coinhunt_hound lauryn hill is a whole other story 😂 might be a post soon

[Rio @Riobzf]

Wesley Snipes went to prison for three years over taxes. When he came out, the IRS said he still owed $23.5 million. He offered them $842,061.

For years the star of Blade did not file federal tax returns.

In 2008 a jury cleared him of tax fraud and conspiracy. But he was convicted on three counts of willfully failing to file, for 1999, 2000 and 2001. One year in prison for each.

The judge pointed to his history of contempt for the tax laws. Snipes reported to federal prison in 2010 and walked out in 2013.

Then the bill came.

The IRS put his tax debt at about $23.5 million. Snipes offered a single payment of $842,061 to settle all of it. He said his financial adviser had taken out loans and sold off assets without his knowledge.

The IRS asked for proof. He couldn’t provide it.

In 2018 the Tax Court backed the IRS. The officer on his case calculated he could afford to pay about $9.5 million. The offer was rejected.

In the video below he is asked about his tax fight. I make movies, he says. I’m not a politician. I’m not saving the world.

Three years in prison did not erase the debt. Was the punishment fair, or did the IRS make an example of him?

[Rio @Riobzf]

Rihanna started 2009 with about $11 million. By the end of the year she had around $2 million left.

That's what her lawsuit said. She had hired the same accounting firm when she was 16.

In 2009 they advised her to buy a $7 million mansion in Los Angeles as an investment. The house had water damage and mold. She put more than $1 million into repairs and later sold it for about $2 million less than she paid.

She also claimed the firm took 22% of the gross from her tours, that her 2009 tour lost money even though revenue went up, and that their bookkeeping led to an IRS audit.

In 2012 she sued them. Her accountant said she was blaming someone else for her own choices. In 2014 she reportedly got a $10 million settlement.

Years later she sued her own father. Her lawsuit said he and a partner used the Fenty name and tried to book her for shows worth millions without her permission. She dropped the case in 2021.

Today Forbes calls her a billionaire.

Who do you trust with your money when it's not your accountant and not your dad?

[Rio @Riobzf]

@0l1k1k1 right? they got paid either way. zero reason to tell her to slow down

[Rio @Riobzf]

Rihanna started 2009 with about $11 million. By the end of the year she had around $2 million left.

That's what her lawsuit said. She had hired the same accounting firm when she was 16.

In 2009 they advised her to buy a $7 million mansion in Los Angeles as an investment. The house had water damage and mold. She put more than $1 million into repairs and later sold it for about $2 million less than she paid.

She also claimed the firm took 22% of the gross from her tours, that her 2009 tour lost money even though revenue went up, and that their bookkeeping led to an IRS audit.

In 2012 she sued them. Her accountant said she was blaming someone else for her own choices. In 2014 she reportedly got a $10 million settlement.

Years later she sued her own father. Her lawsuit said he and a partner used the Fenty name and tried to book her for shows worth millions without her permission. She dropped the case in 2021.

Today Forbes calls her a billionaire.

Who do you trust with your money when it's not your accountant and not your dad?

[Rio @Riobzf]

@HeyShobhan The IRS didn’t accept. Counteroffer was $9.5M 😂

[Rio @Riobzf]

@michele_obarr He did say they made him the biggest trial in history

[Rio @Riobzf]

Elton John spent nearly £40 million in 20 months. £293,000 of it went on flowers.

We only know this because he took his own advisers to court.

In 2000 he sued the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and the former boss of his management company. He said money was missing from his business empire, and that he had paid tour costs he never should have.

His lawyer told the court Elton “trusted them implicitly.”

Then the other side opened his books.

Nearly £40 million on property and personal spending in 20 months.

Almost £9.6 million in property bills alone.
£293,000 on flowers.

Asked in court if his flower bill was really £293,000, he said: “Yes, I like flowers.”

The trial ran for 43 days. Months later the judge ruled against him. He was left facing a legal bill of about £8 million.

In the video below, Piers Morgan asks about the million dollar photograph and the reported £250,000 spree at Versace in a single day. His answer: “I have no guilt.”

Who was really to blame: the advisers who ran his money, or the man who spent £293,000 on flowers?

[Rio @Riobzf]

Elton John spent nearly £40 million in 20 months. £293,000 of it went on flowers.

We only know this because he took his own advisers to court.

In 2000 he sued the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and the former boss of his management company. He said money was missing from his business empire, and that he had paid tour costs he never should have.

His lawyer told the court Elton “trusted them implicitly.”

Then the other side opened his books.

Nearly £40 million on property and personal spending in 20 months.

Almost £9.6 million in property bills alone.
£293,000 on flowers.

Asked in court if his flower bill was really £293,000, he said: “Yes, I like flowers.”

The trial ran for 43 days. Months later the judge ruled against him. He was left facing a legal bill of about £8 million.

In the video below, Piers Morgan asks about the million dollar photograph and the reported £250,000 spree at Versace in a single day. His answer: “I have no guilt.”

Who was really to blame: the advisers who ran his money, or the man who spent £293,000 on flowers?

[Rio @Riobzf]

@BrassTacks101 He gave them jobs, not cash. Still didn’t end well though

[Rio @Riobzf]

MC Hammer was worth $33 million in 1991. Five years later he filed for bankruptcy with $13.7 million in debt. One of the people he owed was his friend Deion Sanders. $500,000.

“Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em” sold more than 18 million copies. It held No. 1 for 21 weeks.

Then came the spending. A mansion in Fremont, California, that reportedly cost $30 million. 17 cars. 19 racehorses. A crew of 200 people.

“I had a payroll of a million dollars a month at times,” he later told Oprah.

The hits slowed down. The payroll did not.

In bankruptcy court, his lawyer listed $9.6 million in assets against $13.7 million in debts. The mansion went on the market for $6.5 million. His interior decorator was owed $110,000.

One man put it bluntly to the San Francisco Chronicle: “He lives free, makes $3 million and borrows $500,000 from his friends, and he pays nothing.”

In the video below, Hammer answers the question everyone asked. Everybody knew he employed 200 people, he says. Many were young men from his neighborhood in Oakland that he tried to pull off the street during the crack era.

Asked by Oprah if he would change anything, he said: “My real, true answer is I wouldn’t change one thing.”

Was he a fool with his money, or a man who spent it saving his friends?

[Rio @Riobzf]

@MrMuvezwa He did. These days he’s into tech and still performing

[Rio @Riobzf]

@CAD5000 Well said. Hard work got him there, but it couldn’t keep him there

[Rio @Riobzf]

@4Awesometweet Difference is Hammer actually ran out 😂

[Rio @Riobzf]

@papgamer The air mask point is perfect. Help yourself first, then others

[Rio @Riobzf]

MC Hammer was worth $33 million in 1991. Five years later he filed for bankruptcy with $13.7 million in debt. One of the people he owed was his friend Deion Sanders. $500,000.

“Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em” sold more than 18 million copies. It held No. 1 for 21 weeks.

Then came the spending. A mansion in Fremont, California, that reportedly cost $30 million. 17 cars. 19 racehorses. A crew of 200 people.

“I had a payroll of a million dollars a month at times,” he later told Oprah.

The hits slowed down. The payroll did not.

In bankruptcy court, his lawyer listed $9.6 million in assets against $13.7 million in debts. The mansion went on the market for $6.5 million. His interior decorator was owed $110,000.

One man put it bluntly to the San Francisco Chronicle: “He lives free, makes $3 million and borrows $500,000 from his friends, and he pays nothing.”

In the video below, Hammer answers the question everyone asked. Everybody knew he employed 200 people, he says. Many were young men from his neighborhood in Oakland that he tried to pull off the street during the crack era.

Asked by Oprah if he would change anything, he said: “My real, true answer is I wouldn’t change one thing.”

Was he a fool with his money, or a man who spent it saving his friends?

[Rio @Riobzf]

@MadCrash_X Fair. Big heart, no budget