He’s gone from “Big Pimpin’” to big debtin’.
Ex-Jay-Z partner and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash has declared bankruptcy in an attempt to skip out on nearly $5 million owed in civil lawsuits, according to an attorney.
Dash filed for bankruptcy earlier this month in Florida, claiming he has less than $5,000 to his name, according to his bankruptcy petition.
Its a futile move, his creditors say.
“It’s not going to work,” says lawyer Chris Brown, who represents clients owed roughly $5 million by Dash.
“He’s trying to pause the train he’s about to be run over by,” Brown said, since most of the debts claimed on his form are not dischargeable through bankruptcy — especially his civil lawsuit claims.
“It’s well settled that intentional torts, like defamation, are not dischargeable,” Brown said, citing well-known recent attempts to dodge judgements by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Dash’s filing is also rife with odd errors and omissions, Brown said, like listing a Florida UPS store as his home.
“Why do you want to lie about where you live?” Brown said.
The bankruptcy petition also omits some companies that Dash owns, Brown says, and includes others that are already in the possession of the US Marshalls for public auction as part of the Webber suit.
But strangely absent from the bankruptcy papers is his most valuable asset — his life rights.
Dash has long announced his intention to develop his life story into a film about the founding of Roc-A-Fella records.
“He didn’t list that on purpose,” Brown claims. “That’s the biggest asset he has.”
Dash has a long history of delay and evade tactics when it comes to his civil litigation.
A Manhattan federal judge nearly sent Dash to jail earlier this year for refusing to list assets for auction to pay off a nearly $900,000 judgement to filmmaker Josh Webber, another client of Brown’s.
“If Defendants fail to comply,” Judge Robert Lehrburger wrote in his ruling, “the Court will find Defendants in contempt and may issue an arrest warrant for Mr. Dash” to haul him to court to answer the claims.
In the ongoing Webber case, Lehrburger said Tuesday that Brown and Bhushan have agreed to wait for a ruling from a Florida judge before proceeding.
“Any attempt to enforce judgments against Damon are stayed unless the bankruptcy court in Florida determines otherwise,” Dash’s attorney, Natraj S. Bhushan told The Post.
Last May, Bhushan asked the judge for permission to ditch Dash but was denied by Lehrburger, who said it was part of a delay “strategy,” adding that Dash would unlikely be cooperative with a different attorney.
Another Manhattan federal judge ruled that Dash had destroyed financial evidence that was “highly relevant to current and future litigation” in a separate lawsuit case brought against him by jilted author Edwyna Brooks, who claimed Dash fraudulently hid funds to dodge paying her a nearly $100,000 judgement in an earlier case.
In an appearance on The Breakfast Club this week, Dash said he declared bankruptcy to stymie Brown from going after his assets.
After announcing a book deal and TV rights for a project called “Power,” the interview descended into trading insults with host Charlamagne tha God over his debts, with Dash repeatedly calling him “gay.”
“Debt Dash, that’s your new name,” Charlamagne said. “You should start a new label called Debt Jam.”
The post Damon Dash declared bankruptcy to avoid $5 million in lawsuit claims, lawyer says: ‘It’s not going to work’ appeared first on New York Post.
