Posts Tagged ‘tax evasion’

Helio Castroneves on His Ordeal

May 19th, 2009

In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, former Dancing With the Stars champ Helio Castroneves is finally speaking out about being cleared of tax evastion charges.

 

"It was really hard," he says of his ordeal. "It was really difficult to be in a situation where you have no control at all. It was torture."

 

One source of his support was his girlfriend Adriana Henao, who stuck by him for the seven-week trial.

 

"She is Columbian, so I still have to practice my Spanish," he explains. "I speak Portuguese, not Spanish. But I fake my Spanish and she seems to understand."

 

So will there be wedding bells soon?

 

"I’m not planning anything. But the heart tells you something. You just got to follow it."

 

And while he won hearts with his dancing, Helio’s going to stay focused on racing for now.

 

"It’s just so incredible to be back where I belong," he says. "That’s the only thing I know how to do."

DWTS fans might disagree with you on that one, Helio!

 

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Helio Castroneves Acquitted of Tax Evasion

April 17th, 2009

Brazilian race car driver and former Dancing with the Stars contestant Helio Castroneves has been acquitted on six counts of tax evasion charges. A federal jury did hang on one count of conspiracy. Heli0’s sister and business manager, Katiucia Castroneves, 35, was also acquitted but a jury was hung on a conspiracy charge as well.

The IndyCar driver was accused of evading more than $2.3 million in US income taxes. The jury deliberated six days after a six-week trial.

In his native Portuguese, Helio said he was extremely relieved. "I just want to thank God, and my fans, and all of the people who prayed for me," he said outside the courtroom.

"It has been a very difficult place to be in," he added, saying that his faith had seen him through. The DWTS alum faced more than six years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion between 1999 and 2004. Castroneves is a two-time Indy 500 winner.

Warrant Issued for Girls Gone Wild Creator

February 2nd, 2009

Girls Gone Wild founder and former Paris Hilton b.f.f. Joe Francis is wanted for arrest after he failed to show up at a hearing for a tax evasion case.

An L.A. court issued a bench warrant for Francis on Monday. He was supposed to show up to the hearing, which was set to deal with a request from Bernhoft Law Firm to withdraw as Francis’ legal counsel.

 

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero issued the arrest warrant when Francis failed to show up for the hearing, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Francis became a multimillionaire by selling videos of young women baring their breasts, usually at parties with free-flowing alcohol.

He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted in the tax evasion case, which was filed in 2007 by authorities in Nevada but transferred to L.A. because that is where he lives.

He is accused of claiming more than $20 million in bogus business expenses.

The tax trial is due to start in March.

Helio Castroneves Busted

October 2nd, 2008

Helio Castroneves, two-time Indy 500 winner and former Dancing With the Stars champ, has been grabbed by the long arm of the law, after being indicted today in Miami on charges that he allegedly did not pay taxes on more than $5 million of his income, according to TMZ.

 

The dancing and racing star is being charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and tax evasion, after the IRS said he, his sister Katiucia Castroneves and lawyer Alan Miller tried to use an offshore corporation to "conceal and disguise the true and correct amount" of his income.

 

The three have been indicted for conspiracy "for the purpose of impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions of the Internal Revenue Service."

 

An example charge claims that Helio tried to pass off $2 million he received from a Brazilian trading company as earning only $200,000 in income.

 

Each charge of conspiracy and tax evasion carry a maximum punishment of five years in federal prison.

Wesley Snipes Speaks Out

April 25th, 2008

Wesley Snipes is speaking out about his 3-year jail sentence for tax evasion. On Thursday, the actor read aloud from a prepared statement, apologizing for what he called "costly mistakes," and insisting he was the victim of crooked advisors, a liability of wealth and celebrity that attracted "Wolves and jackals like flies are attracted to meat."

"I am an idealistic, naive,passionate, truth seeking, spritually motivated artist," Snipes said, adding, "and unschooled in the science of law and finance."

 

The star of White Men Can’t Jump and the Blade trilogy, was sentenced to 3-years in prison yesterday for willfully not filing his taxes–the maximum punishment one can receive.

The actor’s lawyers argued that his sentence was too harsh for a first time offender convicted of three misdemeanors and recommended that he be given home detention instead and ordered to make public service announcements.

 

But U.S. District Judge, William Terrell Hodges, said Snipes exhibited a "history of contempt over a period of time" for U.S. tax laws.

 

"The sentencing court sends the right message to the American taxpayer–you’ve got to pay your taxes," U.S. attorney Robert O’Neill said. "Rich, poor, it doesn’t matter. We all pay our taxes."

Wesley Snipes Gets 3 Years

April 24th, 2008

A judge has sentenced Wesley Snipes to three years in prison for tax evasion, it was revealed late Thursday afternoon.

The actor was not forced to surrender immediately, however–the judge ruled that he could turn himself in at a later date, closer to his New Jersey home.

Nathan J. Hochman, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, said, "Snipes’ long prison sentence should send a loud and crystal clear message to all tax defiers that if they engage in similar tax defier conduct, they face joining him and his co-defendants…as inmates in prison."

Snipes was convicted in February on three misdemeanor charges for not filing his taxes. The government claimed he owed $2.7 million– but Snipes’ attorney argued it was just $228,000. No fine was imposed, but the three year sentence was the maximum he could have gotten. The actor’s celebrity friends, Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson both wrote letters in his defense to appeal for leniency. 

Three-Year Jail Term Recommended for Wesley Snipes

April 15th, 2008

Prosecutors are recommending a three-year prison sentence for Wesley Snipes for tax evasion, according to a court filing released – appropriately – on Tuesday, tax day.

Per the papers, filed by U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill, the actor also ought to pay a $5 million fine for his “brazen defiance” of tax laws that cheated the government out of $41 million.

"This case cries out for the statutory maximum term of imprisonment, as well as a substantial fine, because of the seriousness of defendant Snipes’ crimes and because of the singular opportunity this case presents to deter tax crime nationwide," the attorney writes.

The documents also claim that Wesley and two cohorts "brazenly waged a campaign" against the Internal Revenue Service by mailing fake claims and filings to the agency, in addition to making "frivolous" Freedom of Information Act requests for IRS records.

Wesley was convicted in February on three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file tax returns from 1999-2001. The maximum sentence of each count is one full year. The Blade star avoided penalty for two felony counts of fraud in seeking refunds from other years and filing false claims.

Wesley Snipes Faces 3 Years for Tax Conviction

February 1st, 2008 / Author: cwillett

On Friday, a Florida judge found Wesley Snipes guilty of three misdemeanors for failing to file his tax returns. The 45-year old actor now faces up to three years in federal prison.

 

Snipes was facing a much longer jail time — he was charged with six misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns and felony counts of tax fraud and conspiracy. He was, however, acquitted of the more serious charges which could have put him behind bars for up to 16 years.

 

According to the A.P., prosecutors sought tax refunds totalling more than $11 million for taxes paid in 1996 and 1997, and allege that Snipes failed to file returns for the years 1999 to 2004. He was convicted of not filing tax returns for three of those years.

 

On Friday, the actor’s lawyer said Snipes didn’t file his tax returns because he was waiting for the Internal Revenue Service to answer his inquiries about the need to file them, and always stood "ready to pay and file."

Snipes’ co-defendants, well-known anti-tax activist Eddie Ray Kahn and former accountant Douglas Rosile, were both found guilty of conspiracy and filing false claims for tax refunds for Snipes and could face up to 10 years in prison.

As Snipes left the courthouse Friday he said of the verdict, "it does feel good,it feels great."

But prosecutor Robert O’Neill was more grim, saying, "Filing tax returns is not optional. It is a legal requirement. Mr. Snipes now faces up to three years in a federal prison for his willful failure to comply with the law."

 

Sentencing was set for a later date to determine how much Snipes owes in back taxes.

"Wesley Snipes is committed to making all the amends he’s required to do," the actor’s lawyer said Friday.

 

 

 

 

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