http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/15783674.htm
By Pedro Ruz Gutierrez
The Orlando Sentinel
(MCT)
TAMPA, Fla. - He has played a fugitive on the run from U.S. Marshals in action movies, but Hollywood star Wesley Snipes is now wanted for real.
An eight-count indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Tuesday charges Snipes, tax preparer Douglas Rosile and tax-shelter promoter Eddie Ray Kahn with conspiracy to defraud the IRS and submitting false estimated-tax payments worth millions to the agency.
Snipes is also charged with six counts of failure to file income tax returns since 1999. A federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Snipes, but federal officials hope the publicity surrounding the case because of Snipes' celebrity will spur the actor-producer to surrender voluntarily. Neither Snipes nor his former attorneys returned phone calls and e-mail requests seeking comment Tuesday. A relative in South Carolina would not comment.
The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury last week in Jacksonville, Fla., says Snipes sent bogus checks worth $14 million to the IRS for his estimated tax liabilities in recent years.
Snipes, 44, also attempted to receive, but did not get, refunds worth more than $11 million from taxes he already had paid in 1996 and 1997, according to the indictment.
Officials said the three men used an outlandish and false idea - that U.S. citizens and residents are exempt from paying taxes because the IRS only taxes income derived from certain foreign-based activities - to further their scheme.
"This case is significant because of the alleged dishonest manner and means used to commit the violation and flagrant disregard for the tax laws," said Michael Yasofsky Jr., special agent in charge of the IRS criminal division in the Tampa field office.
Tuesday's announcement is the latest legal trouble for Snipes, who has made a living for more than two decades building his success around action heroes and comic-book figures, as in his "Blade" trilogy.
Snipes lost his $1.7 million Windermere, Fla.-area home in 2003 in a foreclosure auction that sought to recoup $700,000 in an unpaid mortgage. At around the same time, he successfully fended off a paternity suit filed against him in Indiana that worked its way to New York.
And two months ago, his former agents at United Talent Agency filed a $1.5 million lawsuit in Los Angeles, claiming the star failed to pay commissions on the "Blade: Trinity" and three other films.
Rosile surrendered in Ocala, Fla., Tuesday morning to deputy U.S. Marshals in federal court. At an afternoon hearing, U.S. Magistrate Gary Jones released Rosile on his own recognizance after he pleaded not guilty.
Officials said Kahn ran two Lake County, Fla., entities that promoted fraudulent anti-tax schemes, and is now believed to be in Panama.
Kahn's companies in Mt. Dora - American Rights Litigators Inc. and Guiding Light of God Ministries - were raided by IRS agents in February 2004.
The Department of Justice filed civil suits in 2003 and 2002 against Kahn and Rosile to stop them from offering their tax packages, which they promoted online and at seminars. Snipes hosted a private seminar led by Kahn in June 2000 at his California home, according to court records.
Rosile's bogus refund claims for clients nationwide and their underreported taxes were estimated at more than $36 million in 2002.
"This indictment underscores the importance of the vigorous tax enforcement program," said U.S. Attorney Paul Perez. "The great majority of Americans pay their fair share of taxes. Americans deserve to feel confident that when they pay their taxes, their neighbors are doing the same."
The conspiracy and false claim charges each carry a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Snipes also faces up to a year in prison on each charge of failing to file income tax returns.
In interviews, Snipes has boasted of his money-making ability.
"It did $70 million in the States, $80 million worldwide, and $75 million on DVD and $40 million on VHS," Snipes said of the 1998 hit "Blade" in a 2002 interview with the Sentinel.
Other reports have said Snipes pockets between $8-$15 million per film and is among the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. Since the 1980s, he has starred in more than 50 movies and has produced about a dozen films.
Born in Orlando, Fla., Snipes grew up in the Bronx, attended New York's prestigious School for the Performing Arts and later returned to Central Florida to finish at Jones High School. He studied acting at State University of New York-Purchase and made his debut in Goldie Hawn's "Wildcats" in 1986.
He appeared in Michael Jackson's 1987 "Bad" music video and later had roles in several Spike Lee films that helped cement his career playing heroes and villains.
Snipes became a household name with his role as drug kingpin Nino Brown in "New Jack City" in 1991. His other hit films included "White Men Can't Jump," "Passenger 57" and "The Drop Zone." But it was "Blade" that catapulted him to worldwide stardom.
<!-- end body-content -->
By Pedro Ruz Gutierrez
The Orlando Sentinel
(MCT)
TAMPA, Fla. - He has played a fugitive on the run from U.S. Marshals in action movies, but Hollywood star Wesley Snipes is now wanted for real.
An eight-count indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Tuesday charges Snipes, tax preparer Douglas Rosile and tax-shelter promoter Eddie Ray Kahn with conspiracy to defraud the IRS and submitting false estimated-tax payments worth millions to the agency.
Snipes is also charged with six counts of failure to file income tax returns since 1999. A federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Snipes, but federal officials hope the publicity surrounding the case because of Snipes' celebrity will spur the actor-producer to surrender voluntarily. Neither Snipes nor his former attorneys returned phone calls and e-mail requests seeking comment Tuesday. A relative in South Carolina would not comment.
The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury last week in Jacksonville, Fla., says Snipes sent bogus checks worth $14 million to the IRS for his estimated tax liabilities in recent years.
Snipes, 44, also attempted to receive, but did not get, refunds worth more than $11 million from taxes he already had paid in 1996 and 1997, according to the indictment.
Officials said the three men used an outlandish and false idea - that U.S. citizens and residents are exempt from paying taxes because the IRS only taxes income derived from certain foreign-based activities - to further their scheme.
"This case is significant because of the alleged dishonest manner and means used to commit the violation and flagrant disregard for the tax laws," said Michael Yasofsky Jr., special agent in charge of the IRS criminal division in the Tampa field office.
Tuesday's announcement is the latest legal trouble for Snipes, who has made a living for more than two decades building his success around action heroes and comic-book figures, as in his "Blade" trilogy.
Snipes lost his $1.7 million Windermere, Fla.-area home in 2003 in a foreclosure auction that sought to recoup $700,000 in an unpaid mortgage. At around the same time, he successfully fended off a paternity suit filed against him in Indiana that worked its way to New York.
And two months ago, his former agents at United Talent Agency filed a $1.5 million lawsuit in Los Angeles, claiming the star failed to pay commissions on the "Blade: Trinity" and three other films.
Rosile surrendered in Ocala, Fla., Tuesday morning to deputy U.S. Marshals in federal court. At an afternoon hearing, U.S. Magistrate Gary Jones released Rosile on his own recognizance after he pleaded not guilty.
Officials said Kahn ran two Lake County, Fla., entities that promoted fraudulent anti-tax schemes, and is now believed to be in Panama.
Kahn's companies in Mt. Dora - American Rights Litigators Inc. and Guiding Light of God Ministries - were raided by IRS agents in February 2004.
The Department of Justice filed civil suits in 2003 and 2002 against Kahn and Rosile to stop them from offering their tax packages, which they promoted online and at seminars. Snipes hosted a private seminar led by Kahn in June 2000 at his California home, according to court records.
Rosile's bogus refund claims for clients nationwide and their underreported taxes were estimated at more than $36 million in 2002.
"This indictment underscores the importance of the vigorous tax enforcement program," said U.S. Attorney Paul Perez. "The great majority of Americans pay their fair share of taxes. Americans deserve to feel confident that when they pay their taxes, their neighbors are doing the same."
The conspiracy and false claim charges each carry a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Snipes also faces up to a year in prison on each charge of failing to file income tax returns.
In interviews, Snipes has boasted of his money-making ability.
"It did $70 million in the States, $80 million worldwide, and $75 million on DVD and $40 million on VHS," Snipes said of the 1998 hit "Blade" in a 2002 interview with the Sentinel.
Other reports have said Snipes pockets between $8-$15 million per film and is among the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. Since the 1980s, he has starred in more than 50 movies and has produced about a dozen films.
Born in Orlando, Fla., Snipes grew up in the Bronx, attended New York's prestigious School for the Performing Arts and later returned to Central Florida to finish at Jones High School. He studied acting at State University of New York-Purchase and made his debut in Goldie Hawn's "Wildcats" in 1986.
He appeared in Michael Jackson's 1987 "Bad" music video and later had roles in several Spike Lee films that helped cement his career playing heroes and villains.
Snipes became a household name with his role as drug kingpin Nino Brown in "New Jack City" in 1991. His other hit films included "White Men Can't Jump," "Passenger 57" and "The Drop Zone." But it was "Blade" that catapulted him to worldwide stardom.
<!-- end body-content -->
