A grand jury indicted the founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” video series on charges of deducting more than $20 million in false business expenses on the 2002 and 2003 corporate income tax returns of his California-based Mantra Films Inc. and Nevada-based Sands Media Inc.Joe Francis, 34, is accused of an elaborate tax evasion scheme which involved the transfer of more than $15 million from a bank account in Bermuda to a Morgan Stanley brokerage account in Irvine, Calif. The account was held in the name of a Cayman Islands corporation that Francis allegedly controlled.
The improper business deductions include $3.78 million used to build a residence in Punta Mita, Mexico, $10.4 million in "false consulting services" was deducted, and a $500,000 false insurance expense, according to the indictment.
Attorneys for Francis have said that the indictment is unwarranted.
Earlier this week, Francis was also arrested and jailed in Florida on an unrelated federal charge for criminal contempt of court. Francis allegedly became enraged during negotiations of a civil lawsuit, brought by seven women who were underage when they were filmed during spring break in 2003.
According to published reports, Francis makes an estimated $29 million a year from the videos.
