Fat Joe sues his accountants over allegations they misappropriated millions
Fat Joe has sued his longtime accountants accusing them of fraudulent activities that have resulted in millions of dollars being misappropriated.The rapper, real name Joseph Cartagena, had been working with accounting firm BDO USA for about a decade before he became aware of what he describes as “a slew of irregularities”. His lawsuit targets the company as well as his specific accountant, Andre N Chammas, and an account executive called Vanessa Rodriguez.According to the lawsuit filed last week, those “irregularities” include “numerous delinquent and unpaid mortgage and bill payments; the booking of revenues that were never deposited into plaintiffs’ accounts; discrepancies in the amount of money that plaintiffs have paid to BDO for services rendered; payments to unauthorised American Express accounts that are not Cartagena’s; and payments to Cartagena’s American Express account from unrecognised bank accounts”.The legal filing adds that, when Cartagena asked BDO about the various irregularities, the accounting firm “ignored his pleas or made up stories to cover their trail.