Posted on 10/17/2006 2:05:20 PM PDT by libstripper
WASHINGTON -- Wesley Snipes, whose flash and dash style of acting carried him from the streets of the South Bronx to movie stardom, has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and tax fraud, federal officials announced today.
Snipes, 44, was also charged with six counts of failing to file income tax returns. If convicted of all of the charges, he could be sentenced to as much as 16 years in prison.
Snipes' whereabouts could not be determined, said Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the Middle District of Florida.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
bttt
He's considered a fugitive?
Can't he just file an ammended Senate Ethics Form? Reid did.
Well, Snipes is in front of both of us so far...
Yeah, this one isn't going to fall under the category of "Gosh, I forgot." I could, of course, be wrong. I've never seen a Schedule A with 12 million buckadingdongs on it...
IRS is on a Snipe hunt.
Then there's that little matter of defrauding the IRS out of false refunds. He's gonna be making movies and not seeing much at all of the paycheck for a long time, and that's if his suits can keep him out of the hoosegow ...
According to the indictment released by the Justice Department, Kahn was the founder and leader of American Rights Litigators and its successor, Guiding Light of God Ministries. The businesses sold fraudulent tax schemes, authorities said in a statement.
Rosile was identified as a former accountant who continued to work after his CPA licenses were revoked in Ohio and Florida. He allegedly prepared fraudulent tax returns for American Rights Litigators, which charged its members a fee, half of which it allegedly paid to Rosile. In addition, ARL would collect 20% of any refund and half of that went to Rosile.
Snipes, Kahn and Rosile are accused of making it appear that Snipes had no liability for federal income taxes.
According to authorities, the claim is known as an "861 argument," which asserts that U.S. citizens and residents can be taxed only on income derived from certain foreign-based activities and not on income earned within the United States — a position that has been rejected by the courts.
The defendants filed two amended federal income tax returns for Snipes, claiming almost $12 million in refunds from 1996 and 1997 income taxes. The indictment also accuses Snipes of failing to file his 1999 through 2004 federal income tax returns.
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