Jennifer Lopez's salsa singing husband, Marc Anthony, danced his way out of tax evasion charges after cheating the public out of millions of dollars - but his brother wasn't as lucky.
The Latin pop star failed to pay city or state taxes for five years, and three of his companies also failed to file returns, Manhattan prosecutors said yesterday.
Anthony's brother, Bigram Zayes, who ran the companies, didn't pay any taxes either, and now he has to cough up more than $400,000, authorities said.
"The moral of this story is: Don't trust your brother," Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said in announcing plea deals to settle the case.
During the five-year period in question, Anthony was the biggest-selling salsa artist in the world - socking away more than $15 million in revenue.
Zayes, 49, has agreed to plead guilty to a felony, and Anthony's business manager, Philip Sarna, also copped to a tax evasion charge, prosecutors said.
The Manhattan-born heartthrob's touring company, Ari Enterprises, and his music company, Bolero Records, will plead guilty to misdemeanors, officials said.
Anthony and his management firm will not be prosecuted as long as he pays $2.5 million in back taxes and penalties - a deal the DA's office defended.
Prosecutors said they didn't have enough evidence to prove that Anthony knew his bean counters were brazenly breaking the law.
"We had to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt," said Assistant DA Dan Castleman. "It was very close.
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Anthony had paid his taxes before 2000, but then enlisted his brother and Sarna to handle his affairs. He claimed he believed they were filing returns for him.
The lapses were uncovered by a state Department of Taxation and Finance computer that cross-checks federal and local tax data.
At the same time of the lapses, Anthony was also doing battle in a Queens courtroom with his former fianc e e, fighting her efforts to have his child support payments hiked from $450 a week.
Anthony's companies have been paying taxes since 2005 - the year after he secretly tied the knot with the image-conscious Lopez.
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Lo's reps had no comment yesterday, and Zayes refused to speak to a reporter at his luxury East Side high-rise, saying he was "too busy."
Anthony's publicist, Blanca Lasalle, issued a statement stressing that her client has not been charged with a crime. She said he was "shocked to learn" his taxes were overdue.
"This revelation was especially surprising considering the fact that he specifically engaged a business management company, at significant cost, to prepare and file those returns," LaSalle said.
"They completely failed him."
Asked how it was possible that Anthony didn't realize his financial affairs were in such disarray, Morgenthau had only one explanation.
"He was too busy singing," he quipped.
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