Artesian Builds drama continues as CEO Noah Katz is accused of tax evasion after giveaway controversy

Artesian Builds is under fire yet again (Images via Sportskeeda)
Artesian Builds is under fire yet again (Images via Sportskeeda)

The Artesian Builds drama that kicked off earlier this month continues to grow more intense with each day. Soon after Artesian Builds’ CEO Noah Katz was seen mocking a giveaway contestant’s following on social media, many high-profile partners have spoken out against the CEO.

Well-known influencers and streamers such as Asmongold, NICKMERCS and Mizkif came out after the drama and controversy took off. The streamer organization One True King (OTK), which is co-owned by Asmongold, Mizkif, EsfandTV and Rich Campbell, has dropped Artesian Builds as one of their title sponsors.

A content creator and streamer who goes by the name Onepeg recently uploaded an in-depth investigative video where he delved deep into the company’s tax and financial background.


Artesian Builds CEO Noah Katz under fire for possible tax evasion

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According to YouTuber and Twitch streamer Onepeg, the parent company that handles the brand Artesian Builds was registered as Artesian Future Technologies and moved from the state of North Carolina to California.

OpenCorporates is a website that handles publicly available databases and provides tax records for various businesses. A recent update on the website revealed that there had been a change in the operating status of the company.

Onepeg described the situation by saying:

“It appears that our boy Noah hasnt been paying his taxes, I guess. This webpage, OpenCorporates basically looks at corporations, companies that have been incorporated. In the case of Artesian Builds; Artesian Future Technology which is the name of this company that is a branch of another company in North Carolina, located in California, where Noah is, I guess.”

He continued:

“And I guess he wasn't paying his taxes because as of literally today, which is March 2nd, 2022, the franchise tax board, which is like the, IRS of California. The tax collecting agency of California suspended their business.”

Onepeg explained the implications of being suspended by the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) by saying:

“When you get a suspension or forfeiture, when your business has been forfeited in the state of California, you have to pay whatever it is you owe to California to get it out forfeiture, plus I would assume is (a) fee of what appears to be eight hundred (800) dollars, on top of whatever he owes, just to be able to do business.”

The content creator then went on to show the heavy impact of a business being suspended, by saying:

“So, if it’s suspended, if your business is suspended, you cannot legally do business, sell, transfer or exchange real property; property also includes money, file with an automatic extension, file a claim for refund, start or continue a protest, legally close or dissolve your business. So his business must remain open but he’s unable to conduct business, which means every day that it exists, he still has to pay for whatever the business incurs for at least state-level expenses.”

The streamer then went on to show that back in 2021, his company’s status was changed from "active" to "suspended/forfeited" by the Franchise Tax Board. During this period, Noah Katz bought a $150,000 BMW i8 instead of paying the due taxes.


Fans react to latest controversy surrounding Artesian Builds

Viewers and audiences in the YouTube comment section of the content creator’s video applauded the effort he put in to showcase the company's fraudulent antics going on in the background.

Fans in the comment section talking about the valiant effort put in by the streamer (Images via Onepeg/YouTube)
Fans in the comment section talking about the valiant effort put in by the streamer (Images via Onepeg/YouTube)

Some of the partnered ambassadors also spoke about their views and experiences with the company.

Few of the brand ambassadors talking about their experience (Images via Onepeg/YouTube)
Few of the brand ambassadors talking about their experience (Images via Onepeg/YouTube)

Aside from this debacle, streamers Mizkif and KristoferYee claimed that Artesian Builds had been throttling components of their system so that it did not overheat and lose performance. To that end, Mizkif was recently seen lagging a whole lot as he played Fortnite with his friends.

In the clip, KristoferYee mentioned how he had helped a friend fix their PC which was not performing up to the mark. He revealed that the system was intentionally throttled back by around 10% using preloaded EVGA software.

There has been vocal public outrage against Artesian Builds and its CEO for shipping products that are not up to the required standards. Meanwhile, Noah Katz has not yet provided any statement regarding the tax evasion issue.

However, he uploaded a one-and-a-half-minute-long video on Twitter where he addressed the issue regarding the giveaway and apologized for his actions.

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