Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Judge Blocks Richard Hatch's Argentina Request

A federal judge has rejected "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch's request to live in Argentina after he's released from prison on a tax evasion conviction.
Hatch is imprisoned in West Virginia for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million prize he won on the hit CBS reality show's debut season.
Hatch is scheduled to be released next month and had asked a judge's permission to serve his period of supervised release in Argentina. His request was denied Monday.
He said he is married to an Argentine national whose family is unable to travel to the United States. He said he's stayed out of trouble in prison and has a right to pursue business opportunities in South America.
Hatch, who was sentenced to four years and three months in prison, last month asked a judge to free him immediately.
He argued that he was innocent, represented by ineffective lawyers and that a judge improperly calculated his prison sentence. Federal prosecutors have not yet responded to his request.
more HERE

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Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Will he EVER GO AWAY...?

Survivor naked guy Richard Hatch, who is currently serving four years in the clink for tax evasion, has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping to appeal his conviction:

Hatch's lawyer has said his client confronted producers about cheating during taping of the show, and a producer promised his taxes would be paid if he kept quiet and went on to win the competition. CBS has said Hatch's claims have no merit.
In a brief filed with the Supreme Court Hatch's lawyer argued the judge improperly prevented Hatch from testifying about the conversation. He also argued the judge unfairly limited his cross-examination of the tax accountant who prepared Hatch's tax returns and who was a key witness for the government. 'He's extremely optimistic about his appeal,' he went on. 'He still believes the system should work.' ...
He also said Hatch was writing a book about 'his experiences with the legal system and his disappointment not just with the problems that he suffered but with the problems other people have suffered that he has met.' Hatch also was convicted of evading taxes on his earnings as co-host of a Boston radio show and from rental properties. He was acquitted of seven fraud charges related to a charity he planned to open for troubled youth.

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Top 10 Tax Troubled Stars

1. Gordon Ramsay - In 2006, this celebrity chef gets his food out on time, but his company doesn’t pay its taxes with the same speed. He was fined 450 pounds by the British Government for missing their filing deadlines. At the time, a rep for Ramsay said they had already submitted the accounts and blamed the delay on ‘a housekeeping issue’.

2. Buster Keaton - This famous Silent Film era actor had a major fall in 1928 when he switched studios. He lost creative control of his movies and he started down the road of alcoholism. The IRS sued him for $28,000 in back taxes and he was committed to a sanitarium. Keaton eventually got his drinking problem under control, but his career was never the same.

3. Richard Hatch - - For someone who was so smart at the game of ‘Survivor’, its first winner made what is arguably a stupid move. Richard Hatch failed to report his $1 million publicly won prize in 2000 to the IRS. He is currently incarcerated for this crime and is set to be released in October 2009.

4. Annie Lebovitz - She may be one of the most celebrated pop culture photographers of our time, but last November, she was accused of owing $135,916 in back taxes to the state of New York according to The New York Post. Perhaps she should have sold Demi Moore’s clothes that never made it into one of her most infamous photos.

5. Judy Garland - In 1964 the once superstar’s unsuccessful variety show, ‘The Judy Garland Show,’ was canceled. To add fuel to her depression, she owed $4 million in back taxes to the IRS, so they repossessed her home.

6. Marc Anthony - In 2007, Mr. Jennifer Lopez was ordered to pay about $2.5 million in back taxes. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Anthony failed to file returns from 2000 - 2004, a period when he earned $15.5 million. Anthony was never charged with a crime, but two of his associates pleaded guilty to tax felonies.

7. Wesley Snipes - Earlier this year, the ‘Blade’ actor was acquitted of federal tax fraud and conspiracy, but was found guilty on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return. He had faced up to 16 years in prison. According to the Prosecutor, from 1999 - 2004, he had signed two contracts for more than $10 million that he failed to file for.

8. Willie Nelson - In 1990, the IRS billed Nelson for $16.7 million in back taxes. He wrote and recorded albums and sold his assets to pay them back. He was caught up by 1993, but he will not shake this on his epitaph, as this was big news at the time.

9. Joe Francis - In April 2007, Joe Francis and his companies were indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of tax evasion. The 35-year-old Francis has built a soft porn empire filming and marketing videos of young women exposing their breasts and being shown in other sexually provocative situations. Federal prosecutors allege the companies claimed more than $20 million in phony deductions in those years, and that Francis used offshore accounts to conceal income.

10. Damon Dash - In 2007, the $50 million music mogul was handed a bill for more than $2 million by the state of New York according to The New York Post. In other news, Dash apparently has over 1,000 pairs of sneakers.

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