The artist formerly known as Kanye West is making headlines once more, however finally for something other than harassing his soon-to-be ex-wife and Pete Davidson. Ye has allegedly been subpoenaed to testify in federal court for the fraud trial of a former employee, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Arjun Dhillon was an ex-employee of the 44-year-old rapper, who used West’s name to steal a quarter of a million dollars from an online charity run by a rich philanthropist in 2019, court records reveal. West must now stand witness at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in
Chicago to provide his testimony, although not directly involved.While Dhillon’s indictment has been ongoing since January 2020, it was just recently that the Donda 2 rapper’s name was revealed, having referred to him only as “Musician A.” This was done so in order to prevent any conflicts of interest for the jurors and secure proper security measures for the rap star’s appearance, according to iHeartRadio, with jury selection for the trial fast approaching on April 4. The prosecution will have until March 24 to submit their witness list and questions for potential jurors.
The law firms representing West have refused to be served papers, something one cannot do in the state of California, where he currently resides. It is reported that the rapper himself has not been given notice of the of the court papers, to which the U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin said “it’s just a matter of time” before West is served by either a process server or federal marshal.
However, Durkin told one of Ye’s attorneys that it would be beneficial for his counsel to simply accept a receipt of the subpoena and file a motion to quash it if required.
The victim, named only as “Victim A,” is said to be Bill Pulte, grandson of the late founder of Detroit home-building company, PulteGroup.