50 Cent has been slammed by a judge for providing ‘woefully inadequate’ financial evidence.
The rapper declared himself broke by filing for bankruptcy last week, just days after he was ordered to pay Lastonia Leviston $5 million for posting a sex tape of her online.
The bankruptcy delayed proceedings in the Leviston case by a week, but now the trial is moving forward as the jury debate what punitive damages could be inflicted against 50 Cent.
He has already been ordered to pay Leviston $2.5 million for violation of civil rights and using her image without her permission, as well as another $2.5 million for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to the New York Daily News, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Paul Wooten slammed the 40-year-old Candy Shop star for submitting financial documents he did not ask to see.
The judge submitted a court order to 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, which demanded he turn over detailed financial records including five years of his most recent tax returns.
Instead, the Southpaw star handed over a two-page document written up by his business management company, which detailed his net worth as $4.4 million. The star also handed in a working draft of his 2014 tax return.
‘The response is woefully inadequate,’ Justice Wooten noted on Thursday, according to the outlet.
The magistrate also censured the documents as “highly prejudicial” to Leviston’s case.
50 Cent testified on the matter in court on Tuesday, and admitted he has earned over $250 million through business deals in the past decade when questioned by Leviston’s attorney Philip Freidin.
An accountant named Mai Pho, who is part of 50 Cent’s business management team, took the stand Thursday on behalf of the star.
Pho was asked how much he earned from a recent underwear endorsement campaign in addition to what the star is making from executive producing TV show Power, but she seemed in the dark about what her client’s earnings are.
“I don’t know,’ Pho said, acknowledging she’s never spoken to 50 Cent in person.
Pho is the last witness in the case, which will be handed over to the jury Thursday afternoon. It is unknown when the jury is expected to deliver their verdict on whether 50 Cent must pay punitive damages to Leviston on top of the $5 million she’s already been awarded.
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