Helio Castroneves: Tax Cheat Or Just Confused?
Former two-time Indy 500 champ and DWTS winner Helio Castroneves pled not guilty last week to a possible case of tax evasion:
Castroneves, possessed of a sunny personality, wept throughout his hearing Friday.Castroneves, accustomed to glowing attention from the media, was peppered with questions about how he got himself into such a mess.
He stands accused of evading taxes on more than $5 million in income. He and his sister and a lawyer were indicted for planning to use an offshore shell corporation in Panama to hide the money in a ''pernicious'' scheme, according to the federal prosecutor.
Castroneves pleaded not guilty, and of course he is innocent until proved otherwise. But the Internal Revenue Service isn't known for filing flimsy cases.
The money in question concerns a $5M deal with Team Penske. A conviction could get the motorsports star 35 years in the pokey.
For his part, Helio says he and sister Kati, who manages his business interests, left much of the financial wheelings and dealings to lawyers and accountants, and he doesn't really get the machinations of the tax machine here in America:
Prosecutors also said Castroneves lied to his tax preparers.''I do not understand about income tax rules,'' said Castroneves, 33, a native of Sao Paulo who lives in Coral Gables. ``I know the difference between right and wrong, and I did not do anything what those guys are saying.''
Castroneves' only sibling, sister Kati, managed his business interests. Her lawyer portrayed her — as her brother portrayed himself — as naive.
''She's a foreign national, not schooled in the United States, who relied on lawyers and accountants to advise her on Helio's financial and tax affairs,'' Howard Srebnick said.
Well, while it could be true that Helio, while by all accounts a nice enough guy, could in fact be ruled more by greed than common sense, it could also be that he and his sister are telling the truth...after all, most Americans who don't have special degrees in tax stuff get confused by just filing regular 1040 forms, let alone anything of this magnitude. Even having your taxes done by a professional doesn't guarantee that they are doing them right. I don't want to convict him before all the evidence is in, but it doesn't look good...the IRS really hates cases like this. Continued on the next page
