1st, October, 2024
Renowned accounting firm BDO has lost major celebrity clients, including rapper Jay-Z, after allegations surfaced that an employee had been embezzling funds from high-profile accounts.
Sources close to the situation revealed that stars like Jay-Z and Megan Thee Stallion severed ties with BDO’s Miami branch, which handles personal and business finances for wealthy clients. The firm’s services include paying bills and filing taxes on behalf of celebrities and other prominent individuals.
Jay-Z’s decision to cut ties came after frustration with BDO’s handling of allegations in 2022 that a staff member, Vanessa Rodriguez, had stolen money from the accounts of fellow rapper Joseph Cartagena, better known as Fat Joe. The accusations extended to BDO’s leadership, claiming they failed to detect discrepancies in his financial records, according to sources familiar with the case.
Rodriguez allegedly used Fat Joe’s credit cards and bank accounts — as well as those belonging to his wife and businesses — to withdraw large sums of money and pay personal expenses, including school fees. Fat Joe filed a lawsuit against Rodriguez, the firm, and the partner in charge of his account in September 2022.
The lawsuit revealed that Fat Joe’s financial management under BDO was so disorganized that mortgage payments were regularly late, account balances were irreconcilable, and credit card bills for other celebrity clients, including Major League Baseball players, were at times paid from Fat Joe’s accounts.
Rodriguez was indicted in Miami last month on four counts of fraud, accused of unauthorized spending on credit cards that did not belong to her. The specifics of the charges and the identities of two additional victims have been kept confidential. Rodriguez has denied the allegations and plans to plead not guilty, according to statements made to the Financial Times. She declined to comment further.
BDO has denied the claims made in Fat Joe’s lawsuit, which was settled earlier this year under undisclosed terms. However, the fallout from the accusations has caused wider disruptions within the accounting firm. Several high-profile clients, including Jay-Z, have since departed, casting a shadow over BDO’s 2021 acquisition of Florida-based Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, a firm that had represented many celebrity clients for over a decade.
Staff working for Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, were reportedly dissatisfied with BDO’s defensive response to the theft accusations involving Fat Joe, a client of Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation. They felt the firm did not provide Fat Joe with immediate and full access to his financial records, which contributed to Jay-Z’s decision to leave BDO in 2023, just months after Fat Joe had severed ties.
Concerns surrounding Rodriguez’s actions also led to another Roc Nation star, Megan Thee Stallion, leaving BDO as a client in 2022, sources said. Representatives for Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion, and other celebrities involved declined to comment.
BDO has stated that it “does not comment on pending litigation or matters related to current or former clients.”