Actor Wesley Snipes follows in the footsteps of “Survivor” Richard Hatch
Actor Wesley Snipes, Tax Evasion and Addiction
The idea that white-collar criminals are usually alcoholics had never been seriously considered until I introduced the possibility in Drunks, Drugs & Debits. Yet the abuse of others, whether physical, psychological or financial, indicates alcoholism. The odds of addiction in a person committing fraud are, therefore, no different than those in someone engaging in other criminal acts. When “Survivor”winner Richard Hatch failed to report his $1.01 million in winnings, along with $321,000 from a 2001 radio stint the following year, I ascribed an 80% likelihood of addiction, earning him a spot in the “Under Watch”section of the March 2005 Addiction Report. After publishing that issue, I wondered whether a little digging could provide the evidence of addictive use required to qualify for “top story”or “runners-up.â€
It turned out that Hatch had filed his fraudulent tax returns a year late, had been charged with abusing his then 9-year-old son, was convicted of assaulting his ex-boyfriend and ordered by the tax case judge to undergo periodic alcohol and other-drug testing. This earned him the top spot in the Report, in which I concluded that the best explanation for Hatch’s idiotic criminal behaviors, convoluted thinking and distortion of logic is the inability of his neo-cortex to restrain the impulses and survival instincts of the lower brain centers. This also happened to explain how such an idiot could win a “Survivor”competition. The answer to the April 2005 top story’s headline, “What could ‘Survivor’ winner Richard Hatch be thinking?” was he isn’t thinking, because he can’t.
Actor Wesley Snipes, star of the “Blade”trilogy, has been charged with attempting to collect $11.4 million in fraudulent refunds for 1996 and 1997, along with failing to file tax returns since 1999. He has employed typical “tax protester”tactics, allegedly challenging the authority of an agent of the Internal Revenue Service to investigate him and allegedly signing an Affidavit of Incompetence claiming he does not understand the tax laws or know if they apply to him. He also reportedly claims that U.S. citizens must pay tax only on income earned outside the U.S. (the “861 argument,”after section 861 of the tax code). Acting on such extraordinarily twisted logic (clue # 12 in How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics) has resulted in the possibility of serving up to 16 years in Leavenworth or its Hollywood equivalent.
Snipes, who has earned tens of millions from his acting, recently lost his Florida home to foreclosure, was sued for $2 million by his agent and was accused of having sex with a woman in a Chicago crack house. He also was termed “undesirable”by South African authorities for having attempted to pass through Johannesburg International Airport with a fake South African passport, for which no one has offered an explanation. In the latest indictment, Snipes was accused of using accountants with a prior history of filing false refund claims and who have been prohibited from preparing tax returns.
Mr. Snipes obviously thinks he is more powerful than the U.S. government, an extreme version of the Supreme Being complex (detailed in Chapter 4 of How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics). Recalling that high social, political or economic status of an addict increases enabling, we could assume that proving addictive use of alcohol or other drugs might be challenging. However, one journalist, disgusted by what he saw over two sordid days on the “Blade: Trinity”set in Vancouver, British Columbia, spilled the beans. In an http://efilmcritic.com piece entitled, “Drugs, Stand-Ins, Mood Swings and Legal Action: The Real Wesley Snipes,”Chris Parry recounts a “drug-affected, moody, uncooperative piece of garbage, masquerading as an actor while all [those] around him tried to cover up for his shitty attitude.”He claims that Snipes refused to show up for work unless absolutely necessary, preferring to sit in his Winnebago and enjoy “Vancouver’s most famous export…which let’s just say is illegal in the US unless you’ve got glaucoma.”Another source comments that the married Wesley Snipes enjoys party girls, Cristal champagne and plenty of expensive, imported dope. The behaviors are consistent with addictive use of psychotropic drugs capable of causing distortions of perception and memory in susceptible individuals, resulting in impaired judgment, manifesting in bizarre, unethical and possibly criminal behaviors. Therefore, we’ll give Mr. Snipes the benefit of the doubt: addiction is the best explanation for the fantastic notion that he is more powerful than the taxing arm of the U.S. government.