VAN NUYS (CNS) – Comedian Carlos Mencia was scheduled to be arraigned Monday on a dozen felony tax-related counts, with prosecutors saying he failed to report $8.7 million in personal and corporate income.
The 58-year-old entertainer was arrested Thursday and was being held without bail, according to sheriff’s jail records.
He is set to be arraigned in a Van Nuys courtroom on the 12 charges — six involving his personal taxes and six others involving his corporate taxes, according to the district attorney.
On Thursday, District Attorney Nathan Hochman called Mencia “one of California’s biggest tax scofflaws,” saying he is “on the California Franchise Tax Board’s list of the 500 greatest tax delinquents in both personal and corporate income categories.”
“In total, the amount of income that he failed to report … between 2019 and 2024, as alleged in the charges is $8.7 million. That translates into over $300,000 of state tax,” the district attorney said, noting that involved about $3.3 million in personal income and approximately $5.4 million in corporate income for his company, Nedlos Entertainment Inc.
Mencia — also known as Ned Arnel Holness — is charged with six counts each of failure to file personal income tax with the intent to evade tax and failure to file corporate income tax with the intent to evade tax for allegedly failing to file tax returns for the 2019 to 2024 tax years, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
He was taken into custody about 7:05 a.m. Thursday at his Encino home, according to Michele Hanisee, who heads the District Attorney’s newly created Business Tax Fraud Unit.
Mencia had been sent 78 notices from the Franchise Tax Board warning him that he had failed to file income tax returns for the tax years 2019 to 2024, but did not file those income tax returns, according to Hochman.
The district attorney noted that Mencia “had paid his taxes” before 2019.
Hochman told reporters at a news conference at his downtown Los Angeles headquarters that Mencia said during a 2007 comedy show, “It’s tax day. Maybe I’m different, but I believe taxes are a good thing.” He added that the comedian detailed then how taxes pay for electricity, police and fire services and roads.
If convicted as charged, Mencia could face a maximum of 11 years and four months in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office, with Hochman adding that the comedian would also have to pay the unpaid taxes along with interest.
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