Celebrity tax troubles, high-profile scandals, and what the ultra-wealthy get away with — or don’t — when it comes to taxes.
Crikey! The Australia Zoo, which was founded in the 1970s by Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin’s parents, has acknowledged that it was the victim “a highly sophisticated case of deception.” The zoo is currently being investigation as part of a massive tax-evasion scandal. The zoo has been charged with $2.3 million in outstanding debts allegedly owed…
La-Van Hawkins, who built a fortune with Burger King, Pizza Hut and Checkers Drive-In franchises across the country, has another legal battle brewing. Hawkins grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project where he was an admitted gang member and cocaine addict. He began working at a McDonalds cleaning toilets and eventually became general manager of…
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has released seven years of his tax individual returns this week. The Obama family reported income of $1.65 million in 2005 and nearly $1 million in 2006. During that same period, the family made $137,622 in charitable donations. Prior to 2005, the family seems to have a different financial picture….
One of my favorite tax stories to come out of the BBC (yes, even more than the new UK budget) is the saga of Hatsue Shimizu and Yoshiko Ishii. The two Japanese sisters have been arrested for alleged tax evasion – the National Tax Agency in Japan is calling it the biggest ever case of…
Lou Pearlman, former producer and puppetmaster for mega boy bands, the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, has agreed to plead guilty to charges including conspiracy, money laundering and bank fraud charges. Even with the plea, he still faces up to 25 years in prison and $1 million in fines – and that’s assuming there are…
Actor Nicolas Cage (whose best role – by far – was in “Raising Arizona”) has filed a petition in Tax Court disputing deficiencies alleged by the IRS. The Oscar Winner (he won in 1995 for “Leaving Las Vegas”) has been accused of using his production company to “wrongly write off $3.3 million in personal expenses.”…
IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky has a special interest in the hearing for seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens. Novitzky has been at the helm of a five-and-a-half-year investigation into steroids in professional sports including drug use in Major League Baseball. Novitsky had expected to hear testimony from New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte,…
Richard Hatch may survive but only after completing his 51 month prison sentence for tax evasion. The former “Survivor” champion had filed an appeal to reduce his prison sentence after being convicted of not paying taxes on his “Survivor” winnings. The court failed to overturn the conviction, leaving Hatch to finish out his full sentence….
Apparently money can buy you a lot of things, including your freedom. Actor Wesley Snipes, who has publicly commented that he knew that not paying his taxes “sounded too good to be true,” was acquitted of federal tax fraud and conspiracy charges. He was, however, convicted of failing to file tax returns from 1999 to…
Following his convictions for tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud in June 2007, former celebrated civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman was sentenced to three years in federal prison. He has yet to go to jail, although his sentence was scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Yagman was scheduled to begin serving his sentence on January 15, 2008.However,…