Carlos Mencia, who hosted Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia in the 2000s, was arrested Thursday and charged with a dozen counts of felony state tax evasion. Prosecutors said the comic failed to report $8.7 million in personal and corporate income taxes between tax years 2019-24 and owes the state of California more than $300,000.
Mencia, 58, whose real name is Ned Holness, faces six counts each of failure to file personal and corporate income tax with the intent to evade tax (read the indictment here). If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 11 years and four months in state prison. Mencia remained in custody late Thursday on $250,000 bail and is set to be arraigned Monday at the Van Nuys Courthouse.
“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,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
Prosecutors allege that Mencia failed to report roughly $8.7 million in personal income and corporate income tax during the tax years 2019-24, about $3.3 million in personal income and some $5.4 million in corporate income for his company Nedlos Entertainment, which he owns and is its CEO.
The California Franchise Tax Board mailed Mencia 78 demand notices to his residence during this period, informing him of his obligation to file tax returns and advising him that no returns had been received, Hochman’s office said.
Mencia hosted Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia from for four seasons from 2005-08. The series mixed stand-up and sketch comedy that riffed on popular culture. He also voiced Felix Boulevardez on The Proud Family from 2001-05 and in the 2005 movie based on the Disney Channel series. His other big-screen roles included the Farrelly Brothers’ The Heartbreak Kid along with 29 Palms and Outta Time.
“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,” D.A. Hochman added. “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.”
This is the first case filed by the DA Office’s newly established Business Tax Fraud Unit.