50 Cent Issues Warning After Ex-Employee Pleads Guilty To Fraud

50 Cent blamed Jim Beam’s parent company for getting him involved with Mitchell Green, an ex-employee who embezzled more than $2 million from the rapper’s Sire Spirits. The G-Unit boss warned alcohol giant Beam Suntory days after Green pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

“Beam Suntory got me into this mess with these people,” 50 Cent wrote. “They are not going to like the outcome.”

50 Cent accused Michael Caruso and Julious Grant – two people allegedly acting on Beam Suntory’s behalf – of orchestrating an embezzlement scheme. Caruso and Grant were meant to help Sire Spirits expand in the alcohol industry. They connected 50 Cent’s company with Green, who scammed Sire Spirits by secretly negotiating deals to receive kickbacks from French champagne and cognac distilleries.

“Though he was supposed to negotiate the best deal possible for his employer, Green set up secret side deals to inflate what his employer paid so that he could reap millions of dollars in kickbacks,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. “Companies must be able to rely on the integrity of their agents to conduct business. When employees violate that trust and engage in fraud — like the defendant did here — this Office and our law enforcement partners are prepared to hold them accountable.”

Green faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 23, 2024.

Earlier this year, Green filed for bankruptcy. He owed more than $6 million to 50 Cent’s Sire Spirits. A judge ruled Green must pay the debt despite filing for bankruptcy.