They May Be Rich and Famous, but Do They Pay Their Taxes?
April 13, 2007 — -- Al Capone was never caught for murder, racketeering or bootlegging.
In the end, it was the taxman who put him behind bars.
Since his time, many celebrities have found themselves in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service
Some made minor mistakes. Others were caught blatantly disregarding the law.
Take Richard Hatch, who won $1 million on the first season of "Survivor."
The castaway best known for appearing naked on the island never reported his prize money even though millions of people saw him win it on TV.
The latest in the group of the rich and famous to get into trouble is Joe Francis, the creator of "Girls Gone Wild," who was indicted this week for federal tax evasion.
He is charged with deducting more than $20 million in false business expenses.
Back in October, actor Wesley Snipes was charged with claiming nearly $12 million in refunds for 1996 and 1997. But the charges don't end there. Snipes allegedly never filed returns for 1999 through 2004.
Sometimes the fraud lands the star in jail. Other times, the star just ends up writing a large check.
Hatch is currently serving time at a federal prison in West Virginia.
But singer Marc Anthony avoided any jail time when he agreed this week to pay about $2.5 million in back taxes, interest and penalties because of his failure to file returns for five years on income of $15.5 million.
Anthony avoided prosecution because he had a professional account do his taxes.
One of the most bizarre tax fraud cases involves Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
When she was first arrested in 1993, many folks in Tinseltown were fretting over the possibility of Fleiss having to turn over her little black book of clients as evidence in the case.
That didn't happen, and Fleiss served 21 months behind bars for money laundering and tax evasion.
It seems that when it comes to avoiding taxes, the list of famous folks crosses into every sector. There are sports stars figures, actors, singers and real estate mavens.
Some, however, tend to get into more trouble than others, and it's not because of the severity of their actions but has more to do with their attitudes toward theit crimes.
