Two-time Indianapolis 500 champ and winner of season 5 of
Dancing with the Stars Helio Castroneves was due in court today after being indicted on multiple counts of tax evasion yesterday.
The Brazilian born race car driver was charged in Miami, where he owns a home, for failing to report $5.5 million in income to the Internal Revenue Service between 1999 and 2002. His sister Kati, who acts as his manager, and his attorney Alan R. Miller were also indicted.
Castroneves was charged with six counts for tax evasion and one count for fraud. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, for a combined maximum of 35 years.
Castroneves and the co-defendants are accused of funneling money through multiple companies, including Seven Promotions, a shell company based in Panama, as well as of using a Swiss bank account, a Dutch licensing company and a Brazilian sponsor to hide his income.
Last fall on
Dancing with the Stars, Castroneves was paired with
Julianne Hough. Together, they danced their way into the hearts of all the viewers at home who voted him to the top, defeating runners-up
Melanie Brown and
Maksim Chmerkovskiy. I wonder if he'll plead his case with a little two-step for the judge of the 7th District Court in Miami.
Castroneves might end up acquitted on some or all of the charges after the judge reviews the case. However, during this time of economic crisis in America, it's infuriating to read about those with tremendous wealth shirking the duty that we normal citizens do daily and without question. If you are making literally millions of dollars a year, do you really think that you don't have the responsibility to pay taxes any more?
What do you think? Do you think
Dancing with the Stars' Helio Castroneves is guilty of fraud and tax evasion?
Do you think Helio Castroneves should go to jail?
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source:
IndyStar.com
(Image courtesy of ABC)