Heat’s Terry Rozier faced $8 million tax lien from IRS in 2023

same year Miami Heat guard terry rosier Accused of manipulating his performance in NBA games as part of gambling schemes, he was facing an $8 million tax lien from the Internal Revenue Service, according to county clerk records obtained by ESPN.

The IRS filed an $8,218,211 federal income tax lien in November 2023 in Broward County, Florida, where Rozier resides. Florida tax attorney Steven N. According to Klitzner, the lien must have been filed after the past due notice was sent to the taxpayer.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to them,” he said.

ESPN has contacted Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty of Efra Law, for comment.

According to a federal indictment unsealed last Thursday, Rozier is accused of providing non-public information about his plan to leave the March 2023 games early to a friend, Deniro Lester, who later sold it to speculators for about $100,000. Rozier played just nine minutes before leaving the game citing a foot injury.

According to the indictment, Rozier paid for Lester to travel to Philadelphia to collect the proceeds from the scheme, before going to his home to count the money with Rozier.

Rozier and Laster were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They were among 34 defendants arrested last week in two sweeping federal gambling investigations.

The trustee said in a statement at the time that his client was “not a gambler” and “is eager to win this fight.”

The NBA placed Rozier on leave after the allegations became public. The league investigated Rozier in 2023 after questionable prop bets were placed on the under on his statistics in games, but found that he had not violated league rules at that time. Last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that Rozier had cooperated with the NBA’s investigation and that the league “ultimately concluded that despite that unusual behavior, there was insufficient evidence.”

The IRS has 30 days after the debt is paid to release the lien. According to the county clerk’s office, there are no liens issued on record. No one from the IRS responded to ESPN’s email seeking more information about whether any were pending.

The address on the tax lien matches a California company incorporated in 2024 called GMB Chronicles, which also lists Rozier as an officer and owns the trademark rights to his nickname “Scary Terry.”

Broward County records show a construction lien was filed against Rozier in August 2022 for approximately $271,000, with $250,000 of that payment due by July 2023. The lien was for various work being done on his $5.3 million property in the western part of the county.

Rozier signed a four-year, $96.3 million contract with the charlotte hornets Traded to Miami on August 24, 2021, and again on January 23, 2024. Including this season, Rozier’s on-court earnings are $161.7 million.