Wesley Snipes on Trial for Tax Fraud

Wesley Snipes on Trial for Tax Fraud
Wesley Snipes' trial for Tax Fraud began yesterday.  Snipes' attorney argued in opening statement that his failure to file income-tax returns during the six years he made nearly $38 million was due to bad advice. 

Lawyer Robert Bernhoft said his client got duped by an organization that maintains people can legally stop paying their income taxes, and that when Snipes asked the IRS about the matter, he received the runaround.

Prosecutor Robert O'Neill, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, maintains Snipesfeigned confusion about the tax law and knew he had to pay the IRS because his original tax advisor told him so.

If convicted of all the charges against him he could conceivably face 16 years in federal prison.  Indicted on eight counts, Snipes allegedly conspired to avoid paying taxes, filed a false claim for a $7 million refund (for when he was paying taxes in 1997) and faces six counts of failing to file tax returns from 1999 through 2004.

Source

Published 1/18/08 by

MamaPop 87 MamaPop

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