Laundering at Murder Inc.

We mentioned back in January that hot rap label Murder Inc., partly owned by Universal, was under investigation for "murder, money-laundering, gun charges and a variety of strong-arm tactics," none of which is nice. Court documents into the investigation were unsealed last week:

    The document, filed in January in Brooklyn federal court by an Internal Revenue Service special agent, alleges that convicted drug dealer Kenneth McGriff, who was released from prison in 1995, has returned to the drug business, laundering his drug profits through Murder Inc., a record label that is home to acts like Ja Rule and Ashanti.

    The affidavit said the label paid McGriff back under aliases. Lawyers for Murder Inc. said the company believes the allegations are unfounded. McGriff's lawyer also called the allegations untrue,

    Murder Inc's partner, Island Def Jam, a division of Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group, declined comment.

    ....Investigators allege that once freed in 1995, McGriff got involved in several high-profile shootings, including the shooting of rapper 50 Cent, who had been feuding with Murder Inc. executives and artists, including Ja Rule.

    The affidavit also states that text messages transmitted on a two-way pager used by McGriff and paid for by Murder Inc, confirms extensive narcotics trafficking and cites evidence linking him to a narcotics-related double homicide.

    ....McGriff's lawyer, Robert Simels, said the affidavit contains a lot of allegations, but not enough proof to enable federal authorities to charge McGriff or anybody else.

    ...."If the government had any proof, I guess he (McGriff) and the people they claim he was associated with would be charged with criminal conduct," Simels said, adding, "But I don't think there's any evidence."

    ....The probe has also focused on the relationship between McGriff and long-time friend, record producer Irv Gotti, the founder of Murder Inc. Gotti's real name is Irving Lorenzo.

    Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2

Article tags

Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for eric-olsen

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and former publisher of Blogcritics.org, and former publisher of Technorati.com, which both rule. He is now editor, co-founder, and CEO of The Morton Report.

Visit Eric Olsen's author pageEric Olsen's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own

Article comments

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for Feb 11, 2012

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for January

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs