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Kanye West may have an upcoming court date thanks to a case involving one of his former employees. According to the Chicago Tribune, Arjun Dhillon was a former employee of Ye, and federal prosecutors allege he was “falsely representing his association with Kanye West to secure a $250,000 payment” from one wealthy Florida philanthropist in 2019.
Ye actually fired Dhillon in October 2018, about one year prior to his ex-employee’s attempted racket. Dhillon was charged with wire fraud for manufacturing fake paperwork, and Ye was subpoenaed accordingly. (However, the Grammy award winning artist reportedly had zero knowledge of the defendant’s scheme.)
West, referred to as “Musician A” in the court paperwork, might be required to visit the Windy City and take the stand because of the affair. But U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Havey decided it best to start using the rapper’s real name because it would be difficult to hide West’s participation for long. Furthermore, calling Ye by name could potentially smoke out any juror bias in advance.
Dhillon’s own bank flagged the quarter million dollar transaction, but he “falsely represented” his expired relationship with West and tried to force the wire through. And Dhillon’s target, multimillionaire philanthropist Bill Pulte, was able to contact his own bank and stop the the transfer from going through.
Judge Durkin told the prosecution and defense they have to turn in their proposed witness lists and questionnaires by March 24. Jury selection is currently scheduled for 11 days later, on April 4.
Although West’s involvement in this fraud case is expected to be minimal, he’s been facing his own lengthy drama in divorce court. Last week, his split from ex-spouse Kim Kardashian was finalized, and Ye told the internet that the yearlong contentious breakup felt like “full blown COVID.”
