Richard Hatch, who won the $1 million prize on the first season of the reality TV series “Survivor” and was subsequently imprisoned for failing to pay taxes on his winnings, was found by a judge to have violated the terms of his supervised release by failing to file amended returns.
The judge said Monday that he had not yet determined if he would send Hatch back to prison to complete the rest of his six-year sentence, according to the
The IRS said he owed approximately $1.7 million in unpaid taxes from 2000 and 2001 as of last February. However, Hatch has appealed that finding to the U.S. Tax Court and his attorney said Hatch could not file the amended tax returns until his appeal has been resolved.
However, the judge in the case said that Hatch has a history of mocking the judicial system and claiming he is a victim of persecution. “I don’t think the question of a violation in itself is really in any doubt,” said Judge William Smith, according to the AP.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Reich pointed out that Hatch could have filed his amended returns before appealing to the Tax Court. “Instead Mr. Hatch took the view that he was going to continue to fight the IRS, that he was going to continue to raise the ridiculous arguments that he raised during the trial,” he said.
The IRS accused Hatch last April of trying to shield some of his assets and wrote to him to ask why he had transferred his interest in some properties in Newport, R.I., for little or no money.
