| FoxFour |
10-17-2006 08:56 PM |
Wesley Snipes wanted for tax fraud
Seems that no one can find Wesley. He is not a 'wanted man' yet, but that could change if he does not show up eventually and if the law decides to press charges.
TAMPA — Actor Wesley Snipes and two other men have been indicted on federal charges of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
The indictment, which was unsealed in Tampa on Tuesday, says that Snipes, Eddie Ray Kahn of Sorrento, Fla., and Douglas P. Rosile of Venice, Fla. also presented a fraudulent claim for payment to the IRS by filing an amended return for Snipes, saying he was owed the return of almost $12-million in income taxes.
Kahn was the founder and leader of a group called American Rights Litigators, which later became known as the Guiding Light of God Ministries. It was formed in 1996 and conducts business in Mount Dora in Central Florida. The IRS says the group promotes a tax fraud scheme based on the argument that U.S. citizens have to pay taxes only on income derived from certain foreign-based activities. Officials say this argument is false and has been discredited in U.S. courts.
The indictment alleges that the three conspired to make it appear Snipes had no liability for federal taxes for his 1996 and 1997 income.
The indictment also charges Snipes with six counts of failing to file income tax returns for the years 1999-2004.
The conspiracy and false claim charges each carry a maximum of five years in prison. Failure to file a return carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison for each count.
Snipes, 44, who has appeared in such films as White Men Can’t Jump, Passenger 57,The Money Train, U.S. Marshals and Blade, was born in Orlando and formerly lived in Windermere, Fla.
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