By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Oscar-winning director and Upper East Side resident Martin Scorsese has once again found himself in the midst of financial controversy.
The "Goodfellas" mastermind, who is being sued in connection with the Kenneth Starr Ponzi Sceme, is now accused of owing $2.85 million in back taxes, according to the New York Post.
The IRS has reportedly put a lien on Scorsese's real estate holdings, which include a $12 million Upper East Side townhouse, the Post reported.
A spokeswoman for the beloved NYU Film grad denied that he owed any money to the IRS, insisting that Scorsese repaid money he owed from previous disputes ahead of schedule, according to the paper.
"The IRS prematurely filed this lien even though Mr. Scorsese had an agreement with the IRS to make payments and was fully complying," the spokeswoman Leslee Dart told the Post. "As of this moment, the entire amount is full paid, and he has no current IRS debts."
Scorsese had been a client of convicted Ponzi schemer Kenneth Starr, though he left the corrupt financial advisor before his multi-million dollar fraud was uncovered. It was not immediately clear whether Scorsese's current tax troubles were related to the Starr affair.
Scorsese is currently being sued by a court-appointed receiver, responsible for untangling the details of Starr's accounts. The receiver, Aurora Cassirer, claimed that Scorsese and his company, Sikelia Productions, owed Starr's victims $600,000 in unpaid fees.
