NJ D.A.: Singer Lauryn Hill Charged With Three Counts of Tax Evasion

By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times

Federal investigators have filed three counts of tax evasion against singer, actress Lauryn Hill who allegedly failed to report more than $1.6 million in income beginning in 2005.

According to a press release by U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, Hill willfully violated Title 26,of the  United States Code, Section 7203 when she failed to file income tax returns with the IRS for calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Read The Charging Document HERE
  Hill, a former member of hip hop trio "The Fugees," is owner and operator of four corporations: Creations Music, Inc., Boogie Tours, Inc., L.H. Productions 2001, Inc. and Studio 22, Inc.

The South Orange, New Jersey natives primary source of income is drawn from royalties from the recording and film industries, said Fishman. The charging documents state that in 2005, Hill's total gross income amounted to
approximately $818,000. The second count charges that in 2006, Hill's total gross income exceeded approximately $222,000. The third count alleges Hill received more than $761,000.

Investigators say following the close of each calendar year, the singer was required by law to file a return with the IRS stating specifically the items of her gross income and any deductions and credits to which she was entitled.

Hill, who attended Columbia University following graduation from Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ, is set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Michael Shipp on June 29, 2012 to answer the charges.

Born Lauryn Noelle Hill, the 'Sister Act' actress found mega success with "The Fugees" churning chart topping hits from album, "The Score" in 1996, which went on to become one of the best-selling hip-hop albums of all time.

Following her "Fugees" success, Hill launched a solo career two years later with the release of critically acclaimed album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." The album earned Hill 5 Grammy Awards, including the coveted Album of the Year and Best New Artist.

On the heels of a four-year hiatus, she released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, a live recording of "deeply personal songs" performed mostly solo with an acoustic guitar.

Hill is mother to 6 children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley, one of legendary reggae musician Bob Marley's sons: Zion David (1997), Selah Louise (1998), Joshua Omaru (2002), John Nesta (2003), and Sarah (2008). Her last child, son Micah, was born in 2011.

If convicted of the charges, Hill faces a maximum potential penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Fishman credited special agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation (JoAnn S. Zuniga) whose investigation led to the charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra L. Moser of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark is representing the Government.