Cautionary tale: Even a gansta rapper needs homeowner's insurance

Rapper 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) lost his home on Long Island Friday morning to a suspicious fire that a firefighter says engulfed the house unusually quickly, which could mean accelerants were involved.

50 Cent bought the house in January of last year for $1.4 million, and has been fighting over it with Shaniqua Tompkins, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 11-year-old son Marquise. They broke up and 50 Cent told her to pay rent ($4,500 a month) or get out. She filed a lawsuit saying that he promised to put the house in her name and is now breaching that contract.

Baby momma says she was upstairs in the house when she heard something crash through the window downstairs. I'm shocked. Shocked, I say that she wasn't at the point of origin of the arson-er- fire.

Those who got out from the house include Shaniqua, Marquise, her two other children , and Shaniqua's aunt and the aunt's child. No wonder Shaniqua didn't want to get out. They've got quite a family affair going on there, and who wouldn't want to live in a big house for free?

So what are the chances that this is a little case of "if you won't let me have the house, then you aren't going to have it either?" Except if that was Shaniqua's idea, it was a dumb one. I hope 50 Cent is smart enough to have insurance. He'll have the money and she'll be homeless. Not a good plan at all. If there was one, of course.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.