[VIDÉOS] Debts of $1.4 million for Aiekillu: a popular YouTuber from Quebec guilty of contempt of court

One of Quebec’s most popular influencers has debts of $1.4 million and has just been found guilty of contempt of court since he refused to submit his tax returns to the tax authorities.

• Also read: Prostitution among young people: blinded by social networks, she dreams of being the “next Hélène Boudreau”

“I was terrified when I saw the astronomical amount the taxes were asking me for. I was negligent and I had been running away from my debts for years,” Nabil Lahrech immediately admits, in an interview with the Journal.

This 30-year-old YouTuber, better known as Aiekillu or Aiequi online, went viral by creating content on video games and even air guns. The influencer has nearly 1.7 million subscribers on his social networks and some of his capsules have been viewed more than six million times. He confirms having more success on the Internet than in finance.

The Montrealer was in fact summoned to court for his financial setbacks last month. The Federal Court found him guilty of contempt of court since he refused for years to transmit his tax returns from 2018 to 2021 to the authorities.

“This Court is faced with a situation of willful blindness, or even carelessness or indifference on the part of Mr. Lahrech. […] The Court therefore finds Mr. Lahrech guilty of contempt of court,” ruled Judge Martine St-Louis.

The tax authorities on his trail

Nabil Lahrech, who is also the father of two young children, will return to court in the coming weeks to hear his sentence. He was also fined $1,500 for this affair.

Note that the thirty-year-old simply never filed income tax returns between 2018 and 2021. Subsequently, he ignored multiple requests from the Minister of National Revenue ordering him to comply.

Ironically, in October 2018, the influencer bragged online about amassing YouTube (see video below). This 13-minute sequence has garnered more than a million views.

“It’s really a lack of financial education on my part, irresponsibility and procrastination. I plan to submit my tax returns to the authorities by the end of the week. I meet my accountant and I make agreements to regularize my situation,” assures the YouTuber, on the line.

Forced to declare bankruptcy

Deep in debt, the influencer declared bankruptcy last year. According to public documents consulted by our representative, Nabil Lahrech accumulates debts of 1.4 million dollars.

Of this amount, he owed at least $780,000 to Revenu Québec and $630,000 to Revenue Canada. The Montrealer had only $16,000 in assets when he was declared bankrupt, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.

“My situation could have been avoided, but I procrastinated too much. I did shit,” says the influencer.

Revenu Québec and Revenue Canada also created special squads in 2019 to catch web stars who do not pay their taxes correctly. Influencers were indeed forced to pay, revealed The Journal last July.

• With Nicolas Brasseur, QMI Agency

The financial woes of influencer Aiekillu, in brief :

• 2018 to 2021: Nabil Lahrech does not file income tax returns
• August 2022: The tax authorities demand their tax returns
• February 2023: Lahrech receives a formal notice from Justice Canada
• November 2023: The Montrealer promises the Minister of Revenue that he intends to regularize
• February 2024: The YouTuber declares bankruptcy
• December 2024: Guilty of contempt of court for ignoring tax requests