Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, his sister and business manager Kati, and his attorney Alan Miller were indicted Thursday on charges of conspiracy and tax evasion.
According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Castroneves was indicted by a grand jury on "charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States of income taxes and with six separate counts of income tax evasion for tax years 1999 through 2004."
All three are charged with conspiring to defraud the United States by using offshore shell corporations to conceal income from the IRS.
The income under investigation for the conspiracy charge originated from a sponsorship deal with Coimex for 1999 through 2001 and his contract income as a driver for Penske Racing from 2000 through 2002.
Castroneves and his sister are both charged with six counts of tax evasion based on allegedly false federal income tax returns filed for the driver for the years 1999 through 2004.
Miller is charged with three counts of tax evasion based on allegedly false federal income tax returns filed for Castroneves for the years 2000 to 2002.
All three defendants are expected to surrender to authorities and make their initial appearance in a Miami court Friday morning.
If convicted, all three face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy to defraud the United States count. They also face up to five years in prison on each of the tax evasion counts.
Castroneves is known not only for winning the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002, but more recently for winning the fifth season of the ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars.
NOTE: "An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law."
UPDATE (10/3/2008): Early Friday, Penske Racing spokesman Bud Denker released a statement to the Free Press. He said:
Penske Racing is aware of the facts of the matter filed against Helio Castroneves. We fully support his right to his day in court and his belief in our court system. We intend to have Helio Castroneves continue to drive for Penske Racing including in tomorrow’s race here at Road Atlanta as the matter proceeds in court. Penske Racing has co-operated in the government’s investigation and will continue to do so. Penske Racing has informed it and its employees are only witnesses to this matter.
UPDATE (10/3/2008): An article on Access Hollywood has reported that Castroneves is currently in custody at a federal detention center awaiting his appearance today in a Miami court. He is expected to be released on bond within a few hours after his appearance later today.
UPDATE (10/3/2008)
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about 1 month ago
Wow that's interesting I hadn't heard about this until now. I wonder just how much trouble he will actually get in or if he will be able to buy his way out? Good article Brian
from about 1 month ago
It's actually turning into quite a complex case already. I'd write an article on the schemes allegedly perpetrated in their attempts to defraud the government, but I don't think it would be appropriate for a website focused on sports.
Further, there are already some high power attorneys supposedly working on privacy invasion issues, unless what i heard on one of the analysis was a commentator who was confusing "privacy invasion" with "tax evasion." Who knows?
One interesting thing I have seen that is sports related is that Jimmie Johnson has used the same attorney for years and stands behind him, saying he's an honorable guy. Jeff Gordon spoke about this a bit on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. There's much that's going to go on there, but the sports side of it will play out interestingly.
On Wind Tunnel there was a bit about how Penske essentially "invented" PR for the teams in the sport, and now he's got a potential PR nightmare on his hands. Worse, if this drags on for too long (say another year or more, which is highly likely), then Penske has to decide what to do with Helio.
Castroneves can't leave the country and there are going to be three or four races in other countries next year, leaving Penske having to decide whether to go with another driver who can run for a championship.
This is going to be a most interesting story. Robin Miller comments on it in an article that could use an editor and proofreader, but gets to the heart of it quickly:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/miller-castroneves-faq//P1/
Check it out and thanks for commenting and the compliment.
about 1 month ago
Brian, bring back the smiles, laughs and all the good things, why are you MIA?
9 days ago
If Helio won't return to the 2009 IndyCar Series, who will get his Penske indy car? Sébastien Bourdais? Frank Montagny?
from 9 days ago
good question. robin miller was speculating about that on windtunnel with dave despain and wondering if helio would be back with penske even before the court date was set, as penske is considered "the father of PR" when it comes to his race teams (their words, not mine).
they were thinking the exact same thing, and now that his attempt to get his trial moved from march to november was denied, it's not looking good for him next year. time will tell.
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