Rapper Yo Gotti has been ordered to pay $6.6 million (£5.2 million) after pocketing a $20,000 (£15,800) fee for recording work and then reneging on the deal.
The Rake It Up hitmaker, real name Mario Mims, allegedly banked the money to work on a track with an artist named Young Fletcher back in 2016, but then refused to sign off on the release of the song.
According to TMZ, he ended up recording a similar version for himself, and then attempted to convince Fletcher to break away from his manager and join his own label in a deal worth $150,000 (£118,500).
He was sued over the incidents and served with legal documents while onstage last year (18), but Gotti failed to respond, and on Tuesday (28May19), the hip-hop star was penalised.
The judge overseeing the case initially issued a $2.2 million (£1.7 million) judgement against Gotti, but decided to triple the fee after declaring he had engaged in "willful, unfair, and deceptive acts".
Gotti has yet to respond to the news, which emerges hours after he was awarded damages in a separate lawsuit he filed against the owners of an auto shop, after his Lamborghini was allegedly totalled while in their care.
He had taken bosses at Motorcars of Georgia to court in 2016, claiming an employee had severely damaged his luxury sports car after taking it for a joy ride and colliding with a tractor-trailer. Gotti had left the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador at the repair shop for servicing, but it ended up sustaining damages worth an estimated $390,000 (£308,100).
In documents obtained by The Blast, Motorcars of Georgia officials denied claims of wrongdoing, insisting the accident had been caused by third parties outside of their control, but when the case recently went to trial in Atlanta, jury members ruled the defendants were partially liable for the incident, and awarded Gotti $66,300 (£52,400).
He had paid just over $409,000 (£323,000) for the Lamborghini, which he had used to promote his brand, rhyming about the car in songs and featuring it in a music video back in 2015.
