Actor Snipes Says Race Bias Involved In Federal Tax Evasion Charges
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
OCALA, FLA. — Actor Wesley Snipes is a victim of “unscrupulous tax advice” and is being selectively targeted for prosecution on federal tax evasion charges because he is black, his attorneys argue in a motion to dismiss the indictment.
That’s what Mr. Snipes has said all along about the charges.
In a June 4 motion to dismiss the indictment, Mr. Snipes’s attorneys argue that prosecutors filed additional tax evasion charges against him and not against two other defendants because they are “Caucasian, while Mr. Snipes is African-American.”
A federal judge is still considering the motions.
The October 17 indictment charges Mr. Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid. The star of the “Blade” trilogy and other films also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.
According to the indictment, his taxes were prepared by accountants with a history of filing false returns to reap payments for their clients. The firm American Rights Litigators would receive 20% of refunds from clients, according to the indictment.
