Hip-hop mogul Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter has been named in a $5 billion lawsuit by a New York activist over the star's links to property developer Bruce Ratner and Barclays Bank.

Campaigner Clive Campbell and Brooklyn-based organization Da Black Defense League claim Ratner's $4 billion project in the Atlantic Yards area - the construction of a new Barclays-sponsored arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team, of which both Ratner and Carter are shareholders - is directly profiting from the slave trade.

The lawsuit claims Ratner and Carter, via their business links to the British banking firm, have "profited from the African Slave Trade and continue to profit from these gains, through a conspiracy dating back hundreds of years and continue to date to oppress Black people, enslave them, unlawfully deport them to all corners of the Earth."

Barclays Bank has long been accused of having links to the slave trade, but the claims have yet to be proven. The claim of lien was first brought to the attention of Da Black Defense League by Campbell in October, and the organization reportedly filed the multi-billion dollar suit on Monday.

Campbell and Da Black Defense League are seeking money for slavery reparations.

Ratner's real estate company has allegedly dismissed the claim as having no legal merit, but Carter has yet to comment on the allegations.

-Jay-Z Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)