Fat Joe Opens Up About Accountants' 'Ponzi Scheme': 'I've Never Been Robbed By A Man With A Gun'

Fat Joe went on "The Breakfast Club" on Oct. 4 to air out his frustrations about how he was robbed by his own former accountants.

"Us as creatives, we spend so much time [...] We trying to take our creativity to another level and we think we supposed to trust these people, [sic]" he told the podcast show's host DJ Envy.

"Every athlete, every artist, don't trust 'em. Don't trust the business manager, don't trust the accountants," he warned and added that the best way for an artist to protect themselves is through managing their own finances.

He described the incident as a "Ponzi Scheme," "The saddest thing is when you turn around and, 'Yo, these people stealing from me.' Ponzi scheme - like this is not a game, these people really stealing my money."

He explained how his former accountants allegedly made a credit card account under his wife's name and purchased various items and services like Uber rides, UberEats, and more, reports say.

'Ponzi Scheme'

The news that the 52-year-old filed a suit against his former accountant, Andre N. Chammas, and his assistant Vanessa Rodriguez came out a few days earlier.

Legal documents obtained by TMZ noted that the rapper first noticed some irregularities in his account after Rodriguez was fired from her post in July.

After looking more into the problem, they found out that a large sum of money was being taken out of his account for purchases without his knowledge, which allegedly amounted to thousands of dollars.

He also alleged that Rodriguez used his money to pay off her daughter's tuition fees. One of his entities, Sneaker Addict Touring was also missing large deposits, he claimed.

When asked how he is now managing his finances, the rapper said that he took the "Oprah 101" route by "watching all [his] money."

"Since I caught this, I've been signing my own checks, confirming my own wires and doing everything," he added.

He also alleged that the firm BDO was also defrauding other people, including baseball players Jose Iglesias of the Colorado Rockies, Luis Garcia of the Houston Astros, and Dayan Viciedo of the Chicago White Sox, reports say.

He further expressed his frustrations as he added, "I've never been robbed by a man with a gun."

"I've been robbed by men and ladies with suits on that smile at me all the time."

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Fat Joe