Details in Wesley Snipes (45) tax fraud trial were revealed yesterday in pre-hearing documents, and according to the papers the Snipes not only passed on paying taxes on $37.9 million dollars earned from 1999 to 2004, he attempted to snag an additional $11.3 million in refunds from the IRS. Reuters reports that Snipes did all this despite a 2002 warning from the government agency that he was being investigated.

What led Wes to take such a bold stance against the IRS? Prosecution in the case claims that in 2000, he joined an anti-tax protest group called American Rights Litigators. It seems to us that the frequent action star, known for getting a little too into character, has carried his film brand of vigilante justice into his real life.

Snipes’ trial will begin on Monday, at a court in Ocala, Florida, near his home at the time of the crime in Orlando, Florida.

Some people have tax problem because of income issues, but taking on the IRS like this is just plain dumb. Snipes is a Bridiot.

Pictured above, actor Wesley Snipes with his press assistant Judy Smith, right, meet a media gathering at Orlando International Airport, Friday, Dec. 8, 2006, in Orlando, Fla. Snipes surrendered to authorities earlier in the day on tax fraud charges and was released on bail.

A man who contended that he was not required to pay income tax, and whose case led to an indictment against actor Wesley Snipes, has been convicted of tax evasion.

Arthur Farnsworth, 44, from near Sellersville in Bucks County, was convicted Friday. He remains free on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced March 7.

One of Farnsworth’s attorneys, Peter Goldberger, said the defense argued their client did not intend to break the law and only failed to pay taxes because he believed the system was voluntary.

"The issue is not whether he was right or wrong. The issue was whether he was sincere in what he believed," Goldberger said.

The Farnsworth case became better known nationally on Wednesday when testimony tied it to the case against Snipes. Internal Revenue Service Special Agent James Morris testified Wednesday that agents found documents in Farnsworth’s home in 2002 that led to a nationwide investigation into fraudulent trust funds. One of the funds was designed to hide money and assets to avoid payment of federal income taxes.

Wayne Rebuck, a former director at the company that sold the trusts, testified in Farnsworth’s trial that Snipes owned one of the trusts.

Snipes was indicted in October on eight counts of tax fraud. He pleaded not guilty on Friday and said he looks forward to clearing his name.

What a mess. I sincerely hope they just require Snipes to pay his taxes with no jail time.

Source

Wesley Snipes has been arrested and taken into custody by federal authorities. He will be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Ocala, representatives from the court clerk’s office confirm.

Snipes was arrested Friday morning after arriving at Orlando International Airport. Snipes said he was a scapegoat and unfairly targeted by prosecutors in connection with a federal tax fraud investigation. Snipes had been shooting a movie in Namibia.

Snipes is accused of failing to pay nearly $12 million in taxes. Officials allege that Snipes fraudulently claimed refunds in 1996 and 1997, and then failed to file returns between 1999 and 2006.

Wesley Snipes has agreed to a payment plan and will not see jail time. He will also be allowed to continue working and traveling abroad. In addition, he will probably surrender to federal authorities the next time he is in the United States. I wonder if the IRS makes deals like this with everyone, or just stars. I’m happy to see Snipes won’t go to jail. He may be a bad boy in the movies, but he doesn’t seem like a real life crook to me.

The director (Andrew Goth) of the film he is working on in Namibia, Gallowalker, had this to say:

"We are happy that he continues to turn up on set each day. If his indictment creates this amount of press, it shows he is a star."

Wesley Snipes was spotted in Swakopmund, Namibia posing with a local artist in a gym recently, as the actor avoids the long arm of US justice in the African nation, whether intentionally or not. The "Blade" star also signed another photo that he took with the artist with the following inscription: "From one great artist to another … long life and bright light, Wesley Snipes."

The next bright light Snipes faces, of course, might be that of U.S. marshals seeking his arrest, as he is wanted here on charges of tax fraud. Joanne Reay, one of the producers of "Gallowwalker," the film on which Snipes is working in Nambia, told the Associated Press today, "As far as we understand, Wesley is not going to be arrested in Namibia." What’s more, Snipes is expected to stay in Namibia until December.

According to Reay, Snipes is not staying at the same luxurious lodge at which Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie stayed when Jolie was pregnant and gave birth to their daughter Shiloh Nouvel this summer.