thewadeblogs :: Top 10 Sports Star Tax Evaders

As some of you may know today is tax day. Usually it is 4/15 but since it fell on a Sunday it got bumped to 4/16 but Monday was some random holiday in DC (no Washingtton baseball fans it wasn't Goose Golsin's bday) but in any event tax day was bumped until today. Most procrastinators like thewadeblogs are on top of this last minute reprieve but it is interesting to note of some prominent sports stars who haven't always heeded the ides of April.

While time better well spent might have had thewadeblogs hunting down those elusive receipts from that "working lunch" we had with Jessica Canseco earlier this year (OK, OK so we had lunch with her at the local MickeyD's); readers will be happy to note additional procrastination on our part as we dug up more dirt on sports celebs. So without further ado here is thewadeblogs list of "Top 10 Sports Star Tax Evaders":

1. Pete Rose (1990 & 2004): Poor Pete is a repeat offender... the all-time hit king was hit with a $1 million tax lien in 04, 15 years after he had to spend 5 months in federal prison on tax evasion charges. One item it appears Rose will never be able to itemize or expense is that special summer trip to Cooperstown (at least during his lifetime).

2. Steffi Graff (1997): Not only does she have to dodge her husband's racket but thanks to her Dad Steffi barley dodged German prison. Read more on her $6.55 million ordeal here.

3. Darryl Strawberry (1994): Maybe when the Straw listed his dependents on his tax form in 94... he mistakenly listed cocaine, percosett, mary-j, etc. Strawberry's foul play included failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars he earned at various baseball card signing events. Darryl was called out and ordered to repay $350,000 in back taxes. CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL ABOVE AT LEFT TO ENLARGE AND READ OUR GOOFY STRAW TAX FORM.

3. (tie) OJ Simpson (1997): The Juice got squeezed by the IRS for more than 700K according to reports a decade ago. 

4. Boris Becker (2004): Becker was slammed with a $500,000 fine but avoided jail time when he was convicted of tax evasion when he admitted he lived in Germany after first claiming to reside in Monte Carlo. Becker now lives a life of limbo... sure he now resides in tax haven Switzerland but he has to endure everyday hearing about Swiss wunderkind Roger Federer.

5. Don King (1985): Given his haircut who would have thought when Don listed $3.5 million worth of hair products as a business expense that it would have raised eyebrows with the IRS? All kidding aside King faced 29 counts of tax evasion when it was alledged he diverted over $1 million in corporate receipts to his personal use. Sure he got off on most charges but King still dons a rap sheet longer than Kid Dynamite including charges of manslaughter and murder.

6. Lawrence Taylor (1996): In 1996 no. 56 got 86'd for faling to file his 1040. LT was sacked for 3 months house arrest and 5 years probation and flagged for 500 hundred hours of community service.

7. Diego Maradona: Sure Maradona has been reportedly suffering from hepatitis of late but given Diego's penchant to take a dive we can't help but notice the the convienent timing of his April ailment during tax season. The Argentinian soccer star was charged with tax evasion while he lived in Italy. Thewadeblogs can't help but wonder if Diego argued that he thought his missing tax forms were filled out by "The Hand of God." Speaking of which check out this funny clip we did recreating Maradina's famous goal.

8. Barry Bonds (2006): While the jury is still out on the Bonds Balco case, it is no secret that the Feds were pulling at all the strings in order to nab Barry. In a move reminiscent of how they caught "The Godfather" Al Capone, the Feds were hoping to put the hurt on Barry before Bonds put a hit on Hammerin' Hank's mark.

9. Wille McCovey: It is interesting to note that Barry Bond's godfather's teammate was also charged with tax evasion. Hopefully Wille has finally dug himself out of McCovey's Cove and the HOFer is still not taking a bath.

10. Andre Agassi (1999): Hey Steffi.... before you have dinner with Andre you better make sure he doesn't get lead to the back and ordered to do the dishes. According to The Scotsmen, Andre skipped out on a 27,500 pound tax tab in the UK. 

Recent Runner Ups: 

Guus Hiddick (2007): From Russia with Love... the new Russian Soccer coach who hails from Holland looks like he will be "going dutch" a lot more now that a court back home handed down a fine 45,000 euros according to a leading Russian news agency.

Joe Francis (2007): Sure he isn't necessarily a sports star but hats off to the Girls Gone Wild mogul as he has taken the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Edition model so to speak to the next level. Say it ain't so Joe.. fight those latest tax evasion charges.

Have any others? Tax our server... please add your comments below.

Comments

[Marc]

How about the NBA refs who were busted for tax evasion by booking 1st-class airline seats & downgrading them to coach, and then pocketing the profit? Among the better-known involved were: Joey Crawford, Steve Javie, & Ken Mauer.

[Jordan]

Hey, does anybody actually think these people are criminals in the everyday sense of the term, or that they were actually just trying to save those hard earned dollars from the real criminals...? As much as it pains me to suggest that anyone of the above is a scrupulous individual, letting a bunch of greedy, power hungry, infantile, self-important crooks that happened to be elected on the same corrupt dollar as those athletes control the flow of money is a bigger crime than all of those combined. Let's not castigate and ostracize these individuals as tax cheats, lets demand that the already exorbitant rates that are demanded be reviewed, and demand that the people in charge be held accountable for their expenditure. Remember, government officials only demand harsh penalties for tax evasion because it serves their benefit to convince the public that government services are suffering because of these individuals instead of a complete lack of accountability... Fuck bureaucrats and politicians... I want to see every one of their filings...

[BiggieSmalls]

Wow, poetic Jordan. Tax is bad! Government is bad! Fire GOOD! Jesus Christ, do you have any idea how much money comes directly out of your pocket to pay for white collar crime? Are your tax rates really that exhorbitant? And don't launch into a another conspiracy theory/anti-establishment/i might be a stalker rant. Really, think about how much you pay in taxes, and balance that aginst the services provided to you as a citizen. I am not here to defend politicians (lord knows), but take a calming breath and seperate out any anti-political anti-establishment views and weigh your tax burden against the life you lead.

[DportC]

Came over here from Deadspin and had to control my laughter as I sat in class reading the "Goofy Straw Tax Form." Excellent work guys!

[Susan]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Deborah

http://termlifeinsurance2.com