JAY-Z has filed a lawsuit against Iconix Brand Group Inc., claiming the company cheated Roc Nation and other companies owned by Jay as part of a “colossal accounting scandal,” the Associated Press reports.
The lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan court on Thursday, claims Iconix Brand Group lied about its finances when it made deals with Roc Nation back in 2013. The suit also accuses the company of fabricating financial records to inflate its earnings.
According to the suit, the allegations started “out of a massive years-long fraud perpetrated by Iconix and its affiliates to amass a portfolio of trademarks under false pretenses, in the process defrauding its licensees and partners, and setting off a colossal accounting scandal the depths of which are still being uncovered.”
It also adds that the scam sent Iconix’s share price “from a peak of more than $400 per share in 2014, to less than a dollar today.”
Last May, Hov was subpoenaed and eventually questioned about the fraud allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission. During his testimony, his lawyers said they didn’t think he had any relevant information to share with SEC investigators.
The suit says Jigga’s business entities “have incurred substantial legal expenses in connection with, among other things, the federal government’s investigations into Iconix’s massive fraud.”
The plaintiffs are seeking payment of legal fees and unspecified damages.