Wesley Snipes indicted for tax fraud

[Widescreen]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061017/D8KQFI180.html


By LARA JAKES JORDAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - Movie actor Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday on eight counts of tax fraud accusing him of bilking $12 million from the government in false refund claims.

Snipes, 44, also failed to file tax returns for six years, according to an indictment unsealed in Tampa, Fla.

Federal prosecutors said Snipes fraudulently claimed the refunds in 1996 and 1997. It also charged him with failure to file returns between 1999 and 2004.

According to the indictment, Snipes had his taxes prepared by accountants with a history of filing false returns to reap payments for their clients. As part of the deal, the indictment alleges, the firm, American Rights Litigators, would receive 20 percent of refunds from clients.

Snipes faces a maximum of 16 years in prison.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1017061snipes1.html


OCTOBER 17--Wesley Snipes has been indicted on federal criminal charges for his role in a bizarre tax avoidance scheme that allegedly included him seeking $12 million in fraudulent refunds and his failure to file six years worth of tax returns. In an eight-count indictment unsealed today, Snipes and two others are charged with knowingly attempting to defraud the government by claiming that his substantial income was somehow immune to taxation. A copy of the indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, can be found below. (14 pages)

Unbelievable. Folks, he was stealing from all of us (allegedly).

[royalfan5]

I wonder if he will be Prisoner 57?

[RacerX]

What an IDIOT!

[crawfish]

Yeesh.

I hope Stallone kicks off his frozen head for real this time.

[sanantoniosooner]

US Marshalls will be after him.

[Widescreen]

Apparently he hasn't been arrested because they can't find him.

Freakin Daywalker. :mad:

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

No, NOT WILLY MAYS HAYS!!!!!!

[JohnnyMack]

You may run like Mays, but you can't count for ****!

[sanantoniosooner]

He's gonna need a money train to fix this.

[Sooner_Bob]

Wesley apparently doesn't know The Art of Tax Evasion.

[Sooner_Bob]

To Wong Foo Thanks for Nothing, Wesley Snipes

[sanantoniosooner]

He may have to play it to the bone.

[Sooner_Bob]

He couldn't beat the Rising Sun of the IRS.

[Sooner_Bob]

Or maybe he's waiting to exhale.

[toast]

maybe he and Billy Hoyle can hustle some money on the courts...

[Pricetag]

How is it even possible to get a tax refund when you're making that kind of money?

[1stTimeCaller]

black men can't count

[sanantoniosooner]

I bet they have something for him once they're through waiting for him to exhale.

[Sooner_Bob]

$12 mill is quite a few one night stands.

[Sooner_Bob]

It was reported that the IRS had reached it's boiling point with Snipes.

[toast]

Keith Olbermann is willing to pay off the debt if Snipes commits a murder at 1600 Pennsylvania.

[Sooner_Bob]

Apparently Wesley's finances were in critical condition.

[Taxman71]

I'll bet he is hiding in a crackhouse in New Jack City.

[Mixer!]

Guess he'll need a blade if he gets sent down in the delta.

[Sooner_Bob]

What would Flipper Purify do?

or as it shall be known from this point forward: WWFPD

[Taxman71]

You think Richard Hatch will have Jungle Fever after sharing a tax convict cell with the King of New York?

[Sooner_Bob]

Guess he'll need a blade if he gets sent down in the delta.


I hear its full of wildcats.

[Sooner_Bob]

You think Richard Hatch will have Jungle Fever after sharing a tax convict cell with the King of New York?


It's no sugar hill.

[Mixer!]

So is this the end of his money train?

[Sooner_Bob]

He's definitely having some hard luck.

[Czar Soonerov]

He shoulda bet on red....

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

black men can't count

DAMMIT! Beat me to it!!!:D

[Taxman71]

I wonder if he has 12 million $1 bills pasted on his bedroom wall.

[Widescreen]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/061017174718.8j1izcik.html


"Our system of government depends on citizens paying their fair share of taxes.

Gotta disagree with the prosecutor there. Did we not have the same system of government before the income tax was foisted upon us?

By the way, how long do you suppose before Jesse Jackson gets involved in this?

[toast]

DAMMIT! Beat me to it!!!:D


why do you two hate Louis Farrakhan?

[sanantoniosooner]

nm I'm so lame.
When the he do that one?

[Widescreen]

Update!
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyid=2006-10-20T124930Z_01_L20521481_RTRUKOC_0_US-SNIPES.xml&src=rss&rpc=22


JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Actor Wesley Snipes, indicted by U.S. authorities for tax fraud this week, is filming a movie in the African country of Namibia which has no extradition treaty with Washington, officials said on Friday.

"It is confirmed. He is definitely here," Edwin Kanguatjivi, chief executive officer of the Namibia Film Commission, said by telephone. "He has been in Namibia since the end of August."

Snipes, the star of the "Blade" movie series, is the lead actor in a new movie entitled "Gallowwalker" filming in the Namibian desert near the town of Swakopmund -- the same coastal resort where Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had their first child in May.

Production officials reached at the film set on Friday declined to comment.

U.S. officials in Tampa, Florida, issued a warrant for Snipes' arrest on an indictment that alleges the 44-year-old actor illegally claimed tax refunds of almost $12 million.

Snipes, who has appeared in more than three dozen movies including "Jungle Fever," "White Men Can't Jump," "Rising Sun" and "U.S. Marshals," could face 16 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

The indictment alleges that Snipes failed to file federal income tax returns from 1999 through 2004 and conspired with two accomplices to file two amended returns for Snipes for 1996 and 1997, fraudulently claiming tax refunds of almost $12 million.

Namibia has no extradition treaty with the United States, a situation spotlighted last month when fugitive U.S. software millionaire Jacob "Kobi" Alexander was discovered to be living in the southwest African country.

U.S. officials said despite the lack of a formal treaty they were nevertheless preparing to ask Namibia for the extradition of Alexander, the former chief and founder of Comverse Technology Inc who is wanted in the United States on charges of manipulating stock options.

[picasso]

am I my brother's income keeper?

[colleyvillesooner]

Big ****ing shock:


Snipes Reaches Settlement on Tax Charges


Wesley Snipes has reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service in the US regarding his tax fraud charges. The agreement will likely see Snipes surrender to federal authorities when he next returns to America. In return for agreeing to a payment plan, Snipes will not be jailed and will be allowed both to continue working and to travel abroad. According to a October 17 indictment, Snipes tried to unsuccessfully claim nearly $12 million in false refunds for taxes he paid in 1996 and 1997. The Blade star had his taxes prepared by accountants with a history of filing false returns to reap payments for their clients. Snipes is currently in Namibia shooting the horror film Gallowwalker. The film's director Andrew Goth says, "We are happy that he continues to turn up on set each day. If his indictment creates this amount of press, it shows he is a star."