Posted on 10/20/2006 12:15:07 PM PDT by freepatriot32
Call off the manhunt, we have a Wesley Snipes spotting. A Namibian film official has announced that the actor, currently wanted on charges of tax fraud in the U.S., has been in the African country for the past two months shooting a movie. "It is confirmed," Edwin Kanguatjivi, chief executive officer of the Namibia Film Commission, told Reuters. "He has been in Namibia since the end of August."
According to the wire service, Snipes has been filming Gallowwalker in the desert near Swakopmund, the same coastal town that was home to a prenatal Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the run-up to their daughter Shiloh's birth last spring. The Blade badass was indicted on eight counts of tax fraud in Florida earlier this week for allegedly failing to file tax returns for six years and for seeking $12 million in fraudulent refunds from the federal government.
If convicted, Snipes could face up to 16 years in prison—hardly an incentive to rush back to the States. And as luck would have it for the on-the-lam star, Namibia does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. and, accordingly, is not expected to take any action to send the 44-year-old actor home to be tried. The White Men Can't Jump star was indicted along with two other men, Eddie Ray Kahn, who, per the feds, "promoted and sold fraudulent tax schemes," and Douglas Rosile, an accountant who worked for Kahn.
The duo reportedly told Snipes that thanks to a loophole in the tax code, something Kahn deemed the "861 Argument," the actor would only be responsible for paying taxes on wages he earned outside the U.S. Needless to say, the loophole does not exist. Based on the fraudulent—and potentially costly—logic, Snipes opted not to file tax returns from 1999 to 2004, during which he did not make any money from foreign sources, and also sought a $12 million refund on taxes he previously paid.
Federal officials issued an arrest warrant for the actor last week after being unable to locate him. According to the indictment, prosecutors attempted to contact Snipes over the course of several years to straighten out his legal mess, only to receive phony documentation from his accountants.
Should Snipes, who has a well-documented aversion to any kind of tax, be it income or property, decide to return to the States and surrender, he'd be the second of the indicted threesome to be taken into custody. Rosile, who filed the phony tax forms on behalf of the actor, has already turned himself in. Kahn, meanwhile, has reportedly hightailed it to Panama.
Maybe he`s waiting for Hellary to be elected POTUS so he can donate to her library and be pardoned.
Make him gather his food with a spinning back fist to a gazelle's head.
Why? Sure his crimes are illegal but damn ... 12 million in Taxes?
That's armed robbery from the feds to the citizens.
The arresting officer:
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0120873/Ss/0120873/8?path=gallery&path_key=0120873
Who is Wesley Snipes again?
Limo ride into the bush: $123
Being in a country without an extradition treaty when Uncle Sam charges you with tax evasion: PRICELESS!
Forget it folks. He has loads of cash. He can buy his way out of this one.
You and I are the only ones who would get jailed over tax evasion charges.
He's the guy that beat the crap out of Halle Berry and left her deaf in one ear.
So he was lied to by financial advisors. Give him a fine and send him on his way. I don't want our jails filled with Wesley Snipes.
Sure, he owes a lot of money...but he spends a lot of money!
Good thing for him Dog is still in custody fighting his own extradition!
ROFLMAO at the memories you just keyed!
well he used that $12 Million because his family has gotta eat....
:)
Maybe Roman Polanski can use him in his next movie.
This might make a good Southpark episode.
Did they find him hiding inside a car's trunk?
No I think they found in the closet dropping the duece :)
Growler time!
He should recruit a rebel militia and take over Namibia. Of course, then Uncle Sam might up the ante and send the 82nd Airborne after him.
It makes you wonder why illegal aliens aren't being hunted down by the IRS if tax evasion is such a big deal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.