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Oct 2, 2008 11:13 pm US/Eastern
Helio Castroneves Faces Fed. Tax Charges In Miami
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Television personality/dancer Julianne Hough and dance partner/indie race car driver Helio Castroneves arrive at the 2007 American Music Awards held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on Nov.18, 2007 in Los Angeles.
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Race car driver and "Dancing With The Stars" champ Helio Castroneves is facing federal tax charges in Miami.
A grand jury on Thursday returned a tax evasion indictment against the 33-year-old Castroneves, who lives in a Coral Gables mansion. Recently Castroneves had been living the life of a Hollywood celebrity, including tennis matches with Anna Kournikova, and guest reporting appearances on Entertainment Tonight.
According to the indictment, it turns out his racing sponsors were paying his off-shore accounts in Panama, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The IRS says early on Castroneves declared he made just $50,000, instead of his actual salary totaling $600,000.
Castroneves is charged with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion from 1999 through 2004. Also indicted in were Castroneves's sister and business manager, and his attorney.
He allegedly hid more than $5.5 million through shell companies. If you do the math, the off-shore accounts saved him approximately $2 million in taxes, in exchange for 35 years in prison if convicted.
Castroneves, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has won the Indianapolis 500 twice and is currently second in the Indy Racing League points standings. He and partner Julianne Hough won the 2007 "Dancing With The Stars" television reality show competition.
Attorney Mark Seiden released the following statement on behalf of Castroneves Thursday night: "Helio Castroneves is a very competent and talented professional race car driver. He is not an accountant or a tax lawyer. He relied on first class tax lawyers for tax advice. It's our position that he did nothing wrong, and we look forward to our day in court."
Castroneves is expected to appear in court on Friday.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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