Elephant Man's assets seized - Aimed at settling millions of dollars in unpaid taxes!

Deejay Elephant Man got a rude awakening yesterday when the Special, Enforcement team at the Inland Revenue, with assistance from the St Andrew police, knocked him up at his residence to seize assets for millions he owes in taxes.

The inland revenue department said the operation was aimed at seizing assets to settle millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.

Meris Haughton, the director of communications at the tax department, said the operation was conducted yesterday with the enforcement team and the police travelling to several locations in search of assets belonging to Elephant Man.

The team visited Elephant Man's popular Havendale home first, where they claimed to have found nothing of value. After this investigations led the team to a house off Hope Road in St Andrew, where a red convertible Mercedes Benz vehicle belonging to the deejay was seized. While declining to disclose the exact amount owed by Elephant Man, Haughton said his arrears are in the millions.

Haughton explained that in cases like these, delinquent taxpayers have ten days to pay off their arrears, or the confiscated assets will be auctioned. She said if the proceeds from the auction do not cover the debt, the taxpayer could face criminal or civil charges.

When contacted by THE STAR, the deejay, whose real name is O'Neil Bryan, quickly gave his cell phone to his lawyer Roderick Gordon. Gordon confirmed that the tax officials had visited Elephant Man's home, stating how surprised he was with the speed with which the team moved.

really shocked

Gordon said, "He was really shocked this morning. He's telling me police nearly hit down his door. He wasn't sure what's going on, they knocked it hard, something to do with tax obligation they say he owes."

According to Gordon, he will be looking over the various paperwork to deal with the situation as soon as possible.

While the car was being placed on a tow truck, the deejay huddled inside the house with his advisers and did not speak to reporters gathered outside.

In March, the tax department had placed Elephant Man on a list of 50 high-profile delinquent taxpayers.

Elephant Man is known for songs such as Sweep and This is How We Do It, featuring Bounty Killer. He is expected to perform this Thursday at Dancehall Night for Reggae Sumfest.

THE JAMAICA STAR