wesley snipes, tax protester

from herald tribune: Actor Wesley Snipes faces tax fraud charges in a case that involves an accountant from Venice.

The accountant, Douglas Rosile, worked for two businesses that faked tax records to get refunds for Snipes, federal prosecutors said.

Also charged with tax fraud is Eddie Ray Kahn of Sorrento, Fla., who according to government prosecutors is the founder of the two companies, American Rights Litigators and Guiding Light of God Ministries.

The indictments were announced Tuesday at a press conference held by U.S. Attorney Paul I. Perez in Tampa.

According to the federal government, Kahn and Rosile told potential clients that they didn't have to pay income taxes because U.S. citizens and residents cannot be taxed on income they earn in the US. Others have argued the same thing in court and lost.

Government prosecutors say that Snipes failed to file income tax returns from 1999 to 2004. The actor also fraudulently claimed tax refunds in 1996 and 1997 totaling nearly $12 million, federal prosecutors say.