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Billionaire Who Said He Would Pay Off Morehouse Students’ Debt Admits To Tax Fraud
Black Man’s Family Views Graphic Video Of In-Custody Death
Robert Smith, the billion- aire who went viral last year for paying off the debt of students at Morehouse College, admit- ted to an illegal scheme to con- ceal income and evade taxes by using offshore trusts and bank accounts for 15 years.
The Justice Department an- nounced on Thursday that Smith entered a non-prosecu- tion agreement, in which he admitted his involvement in the scheme and agreed to co- operate with the ongoing in- vestigation. The billionaire will also pay back $139 million in taxes in penalties, and he agreed to abandon $182 mil- lion in charitable contribution deductions.
“It is never too late to do the right thing,” U. S. Attorney David Anderson said in a
ROBERT SMITH
statement. “It is never too late to tell the truth. Smith com- mitted serious crimes, but he also agreed to cooperate. Smith’s agreement to cooper-
ate has put him on a path away from indictment.”
Smith, the CEO of Vista Eq- uity Partners, admitted to using third parties to conceal his beneficial ownership and control of the Excelsior Trust in Belize and Flash Holdings, a shell company. He formed these entities so that he could use them to avoid paying taxes. Smith also admitted to using the Excelsior Trust and Flash Holdings and their foreign ac- counts in the British Virgin Is- lands and Switzerland to hide income earned and distributed to Flash Holdings from private equity funds.
The billionaire, who lives in Austin, Texas, did not report over $200 million of partner- ship income as a result of the scheme.
BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) — Family members viewed long-se- cret body-camera video this week of a Black man who died in Louisiana State Police custody, their attorney calling it damning footage that shows troopers chok- ing and beating the man, repeat- edly jolting him with stun guns and dragging him face-down across the pavement.
Ronald Greene’s mother and sister wailed “like they were at a funeral” Wednesday after meet- ing with Gov. John Bel Ed- wards and watching a half-hour of the footage of the May 2019 en- counter that is now the subject of a federal civil rights investigation, their attorney told The Associated Press.
“This family has been lied to the entire time about what hap- pened,” said civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who also viewed the footage. “The video was very difficult to watch. It’s one of those videos like George Floyd and even Ahmaud Arbery where it’s just so graphic.”
The video, which police have re- fused to release publicly, only added to persistent questions about Greene’s death, such as why State Police initially blamed it on a car crash and why they waited more than a year to disci- pline one of the responding offi- cers. Master Trooper Chris
RONALD GREENE’S FAMILY
Hollings-worth died in a sin- gle-car crash last month just hours after learning he had been fired over his role in the incident.
The meeting followed AP’s dis- closure of a 27-second audio clip from Hollingsworth’s body- camera in which he can be heard telling a colleague, “I beat the ever-living f--- out of him,” and of graphic pictures of Greene’s body released by his family show- ing deep bruises to his face and cuts on his head.
Greene’s family on Wednes- day heard that exchange and a string of “abusive language” the troopers used during the arrest, Merritt said, even though Greene made no effort to flee following a high-speed chase.
At one point, an officer is seen placing a foot on Greene “while another hogties him,” he said. One trooper can be heard calling Greene a “stupid son of a b——,” Merritt said, while another cau- tions that “we shouldn’t tase him any more.”
Oprah, Beyoncé, Rihanna On ‘Forbes’ List Of America’s Richest Self-Made Women
As Forbes compiled its sixth annual list of America’s richest self-made women, several Black women in entertainment and athletics made the cut.
Of course, Oprah Winfrey made it, coming in at No. 9 on the list of richest women. But a new entry is singer and entrepre- neur Rihanna, who rocketed up to No. 33 on the list, according to Forbes.
In fact, Rihanna has made the vast majority of her wealth outside of music. The 32-year- old Barbadian beauty has accu- mulated her $600 million fortune through, well, the beauty industry. She was able to capital- ize financially by filling the cav- ernous void that women of color have felt for decades.
Bad Gal RiRi’s cosmetics line, Fenty Beauty, which she co-owns with luxury goods group LVMH, has skyrocketed in the past year or so because Black women and other racial minorities finally have a brand that caters to their makeup needs.
“We have this amazing emo- tional connection with customers who’ve never been able to find
RIHANNA
their shade of foundation be- fore,” Robyn Rihanna Fenty told Vogue recently. She also owns Savage X Fenty lingerie line with TechStyle Fashion Group. “Seeing women crying at the [makeup] counter — it’s crazy to even think about.”
Below is a partial list of Amer- ica’s richest Black women, ac- cording to Forbes.
Oprah, 66, net worth: $2.6 billion
Rihanna, 32, net worth: $600 million
Kim Kardashian, 39, net worth: $780 million
Beyoncé Knowles, 39, net worth: $420 million
Serena Williams, 39, net worth: $225 million
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