39 days of lying, conniving and back stabbing paid off big for Richard Hatch back in 2000. He was the first winner of Survivor‘s million dollar purse. We’d like to emphasise here that the winnings were not $800,000 – no, that’s a paltry sum.
That’s what Hatch must have thought anyway, as he failed to pay $200,000 in taxes on his prize money. The result of this is a big fat lawsuit brought on by the US government, who want their due. They’ve roads to build, you know.
And his charges don’t end with a simple tax evasion either; they include filing a false tax return, wire fraud, bank fraud and mail fraud. The plot, it does thicken!
Richard Hatch apparently never paid the $200,000 in taxes he owed the feds for
his million dollar Survivor winnings. It’s reported that he owes on other earnings too,
like on $327,000 he made for co-hosting a radio show, or for $28,000 he
made off of a rental property. If the court convicts him, he could
spend up to 75 years in prison and be fined millions.
Hatch almost took a plea agreement in March of ’05, but pulled out
claiming he thought CBS was going to cover the taxes for him. Mark
Burnett, the mastermind behind 2.3 billion TV shows (slight
exaggeration there) including Survivor took the stand last Thursday.
He stated that Hatch and all contestants signed an agreement
acknowledging they would need to pay the taxes themselves.
Hatch has got another alleged crime that’s far more interesting than
tax evasion, it’s one of the many frauds he’s been charged with. It’s
claimed that he’s altered checks made out to his charitable
organisation called New Horizons. He then used the money for his
charity to fix up a rental property he owns.
It seems to hecklerspray that if Hatch could just have most of the
jury write the judge’s name on a paper parchment, the whole court
problem might fix itself. Imagine the look on his Honour’s face when he
realised he’d been voted out of his own court. That’s what happens
though, when you think you’re running things. Sure, the ol’ coot would
probably film a pretty bitter final words segment on his way to some
posh hotel, but by then the threat’s gone.
Also, if Hatch could every now and again award a jury member with a
brand new Hyundai or a mountain top picnic, it wouldn’t hurt. But
Richard, in the name of all that’s holy, keep your clothes on. That
fist-sized lint lump in your gigantic navel makes most people reach for
the closest bucket.
Read more:
Lawyer: Hatch Knew He Didn’t Report Money - ABC
[story by Shawn Lindseth]
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
How could Richard Hatch face up 75 years in prison for failure to pay taxes? Thats probably like serving a life sentence on death row! That would be ridiculous.
It is not fair to treat this man like that of a a murderer.
There are corporate executives who have robbed their corporations, stockholders for millions and billions of dollars.
– and never had to serve this kind of sentencing. Isn’t this unfair treatment in our Justice System?
Richard Hatch could have fled the country and gave up his citizenship and nobody would have found him!! He decided to live here. Lets be fair to him about the sentencing and go after the money.
Is it all about money! As a Rhode Islander, I was happy that he won .