Want that in cash? N.J. bills former Jersey City resident $400M

BY DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, October 15th 2008, 11:19 PM

Darren Goodman is No. 1 on New Jersey's list of tax scofflaws, and the state insists he owes a stunning $400 million in back taxes.

Goodman says he's broke, hasn't lived in the Garden State since 2001 and wishes he made the billions of dollars it would take to rack up that kind of tab.

"I'd be on the Forbes list. I'd be one of the hottest guys under 40," said Goodman, 33, who is unemployed and taking care of his ailing dad. "Do you think I'd be living with my parents with 1,800 bucks in the bank?"

Rap mogul Damon Dash is also on the scofflaw list. He owes a relatively paltry $1million, a debt. Dash blames on a rogue ex-accountant.

Goodman says he lived in Jersey City for a few years about a decade ago and worked for a couple of financial services firms.

Spurred by the big profits of the dot-com boom, he tried to go out on his own, with mixed results.

"I was a day-trader back in the good old days," Goodman recalls. "I didn't make too much money. Finally, in '03, I went bankrupt."

Goodman admits failing to file tax returns for a couple of years and says he agreed to pay several thousand dollars in unpaid taxes to the federal government.

He moved out West to Colorado and jumped from job to job until he decided to move to Raleigh, N.C., where his mom was caring for his father, who recently had heart bypass surgery.

Last week, he was stunned to find his paltry bank account emptied. A debit charge to buy dinner at McDonald's sent it into the red.

New Jersey had put a levy on Goodman's assets.

Amazingly, a state spokesman defended the $400 million claim against Goodman and blamed him for not responding to letters over the years.

Treasury spokesman Tom Vincz said the state based its claim on information from the IRS and suggested Goodman might just be avoiding paying up.

"This is not something that's done on impulse," Vincz said. "It'sa methodical and deliberate process."

dgoldiner@nydailynews.com