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TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- Movie actor Wesley Snipes, star of "White Men Can't Jump" and the "Blade" films, was indicted Tuesday on eight counts of tax fraud accusing him of trying to cheat the government of $12 million in false refund claims.
Snipes, 44, also failed to file tax returns for six years, according to an indictment unsealed in Tampa, Florida.
An arrest warrant for the actor has been issued, officials said, adding that his whereabouts are unknown.
Federal prosecutors said that Snipes fraudulently claimed refunds totaling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 on income taxes already paid. (Watch authorities describe Snipes' tactics -- 1:03 )
The indictment also charged him with failure to file returns between 1999 and 2004. (FindLaw.com: Read the indictment)
According to the indictment, Snipes had his taxes prepared by accountants with a history of filing false returns to reap payments for their clients. As part of the deal, the indictment alleges, the firm, American Rights Litigators, would receive 20 percent of refunds from clients.
Snipes faces a maximum of 16 years in prison.
Snipes, who had a home in Windermere, Florida, has not been arrested because authorities don't know where he is, the IRS said.
In 2002, the Justice Department sued a Florida tax preparer who it said filed bogus tax refund claims, including a $7.3 million demand for Snipes.
Snipes was not named as a defendant in that case, but the lawsuit said the preparer's largest claim was an amended income tax return filed on behalf of the actor and dated April 14, 2001. The return requested a $7,360,755 refund for taxes paid in 1997. The return said that Snipes' adjusted gross income was zero, according to the lawsuit.
It said the preparer, Douglas P. Rosile Sr., told clients that only income from foreign sources was subject to taxation. The resolution of that lawsuit could not be immediately determined.
Snipes is the star of the "Blade" trilogy and as well as films such as Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" and "Passenger 57."
In 2005, South Africa refused to admit him after officials said he tried to enter the country with a forged passport.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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He's gone abroad or on an Island. He's gone and he'll never come back. He's gone with all the cash to last the rest of his life. To bad we won't see him make any more movies. This is a career buster with the fleeing and having him on the FBI list. Plus Head Hunters will be after him. Big business. lotta bouty hunters out there.
wow.
-------------------- Bill Gates, Donald Trump and James Dean, Willie Nelson, John Lennon and Neil McCoy
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There is a HUGE difference in the two cases, Tex.
Willie bought into what he thought was a legal tax shelter.
Snipes tried the same scheme as that "Republic of Texas" bunch.
From Willie, they just wanted the loot. They like to put the ones that try that silliness that they are exempt from paying taxes in the many-bar.
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am simply saying... Snipes don't have to flee: it can be worked out. lol, my point is, IF hippie-willie can work it out? movie-star Snipes can do similar. If he chooses not to? his bad--hell, peeps *love* Willie for chugging through all that chit.
-------------------- Nashoba Holba Chepulechi Adventures in microcapitalism...
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