More Bad News For Girl's Gone Wild' Creator Joe Francis: Tax Evasion
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Joe Francis is having a bad week.
First he was picked up on a warrant at the Panama City Airport, "allegedly" on his way to turn himself in for a contempt of court charge stemming from a civil suit brough up by seven women who accused him of "sexual abuse."Â
Now he's been indicted on tax evasion charges. Francis is accused of tax fraud for claiming $20 million in false business expenses. The Federal Gov. does not dig you lying on your taxes, but they particularly hate when you try to hide your income and claim an amount that is inaccurate and false - especially when you do it knowingly. All of which Francis is accused of.Â
In a Fox news article, the major tax offenses are outlined:
The Nevada indictment alleges:
Mantra Films Inc. and its marketing arm, Sands Media Inc., claimed false deductions on the companies' 2002 and 2003 corporate income tax returns.
Francis, 34, of Incline Village, used offshore bank accounts and entities purportedly owned by others to conceal income he earned in those years.
For 2002 and 2003, Mantra overstated deductions, byincluding more than $1 million for construction of a residence in Punta Mita, Mexico, as "false footage" and professional service expenses, and falsely claimed more than $1.9 million as insurance expenses.
Sands Media, which is incorporated in Nevada, claimed a combined $4.2 million in consulting expenses that were spent on construction of the home in Punta Mita, the government alleges, and $3 million in false insurance claims.Â
Sands Media claimed another $10.4 million in false consulting services expenses for 2002.
Francis reported taxable income for 2002 of $13.9 million and paid $3.5 million in taxes "when in truth and fact, he then and there knew well and believed that he had omitted additional income.
For the following year, he paid $351,727 in taxes on reported taxable income of almost $1.16 million.
Francis makes an estimated $29 million a year from videos of young women exposing their breasts and being shown in other sexually provocative situations.
Joe Francis' representing attorney, Jan Handzlik said this on the indictment, "The government has chosen to make a criminal case out of what we believe to be at most a civil tax dispute."Â
The indictment came one day after Francis was thrown in jail for his civil suit in Florida, and if convicted on these serious charges Francis faces up to 10 years in jail and $500,000 in fines. Which would certainly make a decent dent in the karmic bill he's charged up taking advantage of drunk women, including his predatorially raping them under the stealthy guise of a waiver form. If ever a person deserved to have the book thrown at them (and maybe a brick, or several for that matter) it's Joe Francis.Â
He's the lowest of the low, and I am glad the government was able to assert whatever legal means it has at its disposal - even if they were done so out of moral obligation outrage.
