MICHELLE WILLIAMS - WILLIAMS' DAD HIRES SNIPES' LAWYERS FOR TAX CASE

WILLIAMS' DAD HIRES SNIPES' LAWYERS FOR TAX CASE

Actress MICHELLE WILLIAMS' father has hired the same attorneys who successfully cleared WESLEY SNIPES of tax fraud to defend his own honour against American tax evasion charges. Stock market trader Larry Williams is currently living in Australia after a self-imposed exile to avoid facing charges in his native U.S. of willfully attempting to evade $1.5 million (GBP750,000) in taxes from 1990 to 2001. He is currently free on $857,000 (GBP428,500) bail after his arrest in Sydney in May 2006, on the request of U.S. authorities. Australian magistrates are presently considering a request to extradite Williams to the U.S., although a hearing date has yet to be set. And now 64-year-old Williams is hoping lawyers Robert Bernhoft and Robert Barnes can emulate their success in Snipes' case for him. Bernhoft tells the New York Post's PageSix, "He's eager to restore his good name and reputation." Snipes was acquitted of tax fraud and filing a false claim, as well as three misdemeanour counts of willful failure to file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) last month (Feb08). However, he faces three years in jail after being convicted of failing to file his taxes for five years.