Comedian Carlos Mencia, who created and hosted Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia in the early 2000s, was arrested and charged on Thursday with a dozen counts of felony state tax evasion.
Mencia, born Ned Arnel Holness, faces six felony counts of failure
to file personal income tax with the intent to evade tax and six felony counts of failure to file corporate income tax with the intent to evade tax.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges, alleging that Mencia failed to report $8.7 million in personal and corporate income taxes between tax years 2019-2024. The comedian’s arraignment is scheduled for June 22 and his bail was set at $250,000.
“Mr. Mencia has an income most people can only dream of, and like everyone else he is required to file his personal and corporate tax returns and pay his fair share,” Hochman said in a statement. “Failing to report millions of dollars in income is a slap in the face to hardworking Californians who diligently file and pay their taxes every year because they care about their communities and the public goods, like police, fire, roads, and utilities, their tax dollars provide. Today we are sending a message to the tax scofflaws that it is no longer business as usual in Los Angeles County – the days of a free pass for failing to file returns and pay taxes are over.”
Mencia allegedly failed to report approximately $3.3 million in personal income and approximately $5.4 million in corporate income for his company Nedlos Entertainment, Inc. The comedian is also accused of owing more than $300,000 in taxes to the state of California: approximately $267,594 in personal income taxes and approximately $35,117 in corporate income taxes.
He faces up to 11 years and four months in state prison if convicted as charged.
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