WESLEY SNIPES - SNIPES INDICTED FOR TAX FRAUD

SNIPES INDICTED FOR TAX FRAUD

Actor WESLEY SNIPES has been indicted on eight counts of tax fraud over allegations he tried to cheat the US government out of millions of dollars in false refund claims. The WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP star also failed to file tax returns for six years between 1999 and 2004, according to legal documents filed in Tampa, Florida. He could face up to 16 years behind bars if found guilty of the tax offences, which total nearly $12 million (GBP6.7 million) in fraudulently claimed refunds on income taxes paid in 1996 and 1997. Snipes has so far evaded arrest because authories cannot find him. In 2002, the Justice Department sued a Florida tax preparer who it said filed bogus tax refund claims, including a $7.3 million (GBP4.1 million) demand for Snipes. The actor was not named as a defendant in that case.