In the late 90s and early 2000s, Scott Stapp and his band, Creed, topped charts with songs like “Higher” and “With Arms Wide Open.” The band sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, making frontman Stapp a millionaire (estimates vary but most place Stapp’s net worth at between $10 and $30 million at the height of his popularity).
What a difference a few years can make.
Today, Stapp shocked fans by posting a 15-minute video to his Facebook page, claiming that he’s now broke and homeless.
In the odd clip, shot in black and white, Stapp addressed his fans directly, assuring fans that he is drug-free and sober. However, recent papers filed in a divorce proceeding by Stapp’s estranged wife, Jaclyn Stapp, tell a different story: in the divorce petition, Jaclyn Stapp claimed that Stapp had recently been taking a number of drugs, including amphetamines, crystal meth and steroids.
Stapp is no stranger to addiction, having admitted to abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs in the past, but insists that his current problems have nothing to do with drugs or alcohol. Instead, he says in the video, during “an audit of my record and my personal finances… a lot of things were uncovered.” Stapp goes on to claim that “a lot of money was stolen from me” and “all hell broke loose.”
Included in Stapp’s litany of accusations is his claim that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has frozen his bank accounts on a number of occasions. Stapp says that the accounts were frozen “all of the sudden” – although it’s important to understand that the IRS doesn’t freeze your bank account or take your money without proper notice. The seizure is referred to as a levy and it’s rarely a surprise when it happens. To properly levy you, the IRS must first issue an assessment, explaining that tax is owed. Next, the IRS sends a Notice and Demand for Payment; if you don’t respond to that Notice, the IRS then sends a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to A Hearing (levy notice) at least 30 days before the levy.
Levies can be placed on tax refunds, wages, bank account or other property. If the levy causes a hardship, you can ask that it be lifted – although any tax obligation would remain in place. In some cases, levies can be released in as few as 5-10 days.
Stapp says, however, that when he called the IRS to find out what happened to the money, he was told, “Oh we had an address mixup, it was a clerical error, so we’ll return your funds in 9-10 months.” That seems unlikely but Stapp maintains that is what happened. He goes on to say, in the video, “I don’t understand how that’s fair in America, in the country that we live in.”
Stapp also claims that his banks accounts have been hacked and someone has changed his online passwords and transferred all of the money out of his bank accounts.
He says, “Between IRS attacking me… between the banks basically saying ‘yeah, all of your money has been taken out of your accounts’,” he has no money. He has, he says, been living in the Holiday Inn and has been forced to sleep in his truck. He has no money for food and as a result, ended up in the emergency room.
Stapp says he is looking for an attorney and plans to fight those who are persecuting (his word) him. Remarking on his alleged tax issues, he says that it’s not fair that he has been “targeted by IRS because of a clerical error.”
The bizarre video ends with Stapp telling his fans that “the truth will prevail” before posting his email address and a plea for legal assistance.
Stapp claims that he’s just trying to shed light on what’s being done to him – while others called it a “cry for help.” Let’s hope that if it is the latter, Stapp gets the help he needs.