Grammy award-winning producer Lebohang “Lebo M” Morake is nursing a headache as yet another legal matter awaits him in relation to tax matters in the US.
After announcing that he is headed for divorce court following a fifth failed marriage on Tuesday, Sunday World understands that the famed Lion King producer was asked to return his American passport and his Green Card was reportedly revoked.
In a letter written to Morake by the US consulate-general’s office in Sandton, Johannesburg, Morake is informed that he needs to hand over the documents following a notice from the secretary of the Treasury because he has “seriously delinquent tax debt”, therefore he is not entitled to hold a US passport and it has been revoked.
The letter reads in part: “US passport remains the property of the US government and must be surrendered upon demand.
“You are requested to immediately return a US passport, along with any other valid US passports issued to you, to the bearer of this letter. Any further use of a US passport is felony.”
Morake, who was based in the US and Europe for years, is currently in South Africa.
Attempts to reach him for comment on Tuesday were unsuccessful as his phone rang unanswered. He also did not respond to a text message sent to him.
The letter does not divulge the amount allegedly owed by the revered producer to the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), which is the tax revenue, and is equivalent to the SA Revenue Service.
“The Department of State has no further information concerning your tax obligations and cannot override the secretary of the Treasury’s determination.
“All questions regarding your tax obligation must be addressed with the Internal Revenue Services.”
Morake was also referred to direct his dissatisfaction with the decision to the IRS if he feels he does not owe the entity.
“You may reapply for a passport once the secretary of Treasury has certified to the US Department of State that you have satisfied your tax obligation,” reads the letter.
Morake’s management dropped a bomb this week after an announcement that he will be issuing his wife Pretty Samuels-Morake with summons for a divorce.
“I will not be drawn into salacious allegations and innuendos about my business and personal life,” Morake said in a statement regarding the looming divorce application.
“I will be going ahead with the divorce and have already instructed my attorneys.”
Morake was married to Viveca Gipson for five years. He divorced her and married Nandi Ndlovu who he stayed with for 11 years.
He then divorced Ndlovu and married Angela Ngani-Casara for five years from 2008 to 2013 before becoming engaged to actress Zoe Mthiyane, but the relationship collapsed in 2016.
He then remarried his third wife Ngani-Casara but they divorced again in 2017. In April 2021, Morake got engaged to Samuels-Morake.
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