Girls Gone Wild guy hires Bernhoft & Barnes

[Demosthenes]

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MONDAY, JUL 21
Girls Gone Wild's Joe Francis is Outraged

Bernhoft Law attorneys will make a statement this morning after Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis is arraigned in his felony tax evasion case. Robert Bernhoft, the law firm's press release reminds us, "previously obtained acquittals on all felony counts for former IRS investigator Joe Bannister (a trial memorialized in Pulitzer Prize-winning David Cay Johnston's Perfectly Legal).

Though you'll have to wait for mid-morning to get the live statement, you can enjoy the written statements here ... particularly our favorite:

"The truth will reveal that the case against Francis is 'about an accountant who thinks he should be rewarded for his own mistakes, mistakes that will cost Joe millions of dollars. The IRS says the accountant should get millions and Joe prison for mistakes the accountant made and never told Joe he made. That's outrageous.'"

Riiight. Of all the issues about, of and relating to Joe Francis, that's the thing that's outrageous.

(Los Angeles, CA; Sunday, July 20, 2008) -- Robert Bernhoft and Robert Barnes, trial litigators for Joe Francis in Francis' felony tax evasion case, will make a statement and field questions on Monday, July 21, after Francis' arraignment.

Francis was indicted in April, 2007 after the former corporate accountant for Francis' Mantra Films contacted the IRS and requested millions in bonuses to report Francis for accounting mistakes made during the accountant's tenure at the company. Several of the returns at issue, now alleged to be false, were reviewed by the accountant, who is now attempting to profit from a controversial government bounty program that rewards people in the millions of dollars who identify tax errors in tax returns.

Attorney Bernhoft, who's obtained acquittals in three of the most hotly-contested felony tax trials this decade, promises that the truth will reveal that the case against Francis is "about an accountant who thinks he should be rewarded for his own mistakes, mistakes that will cost Joe millions of dollars. The IRS says the accountant should get millions and Joe prison for mistakes the accountant made and never told Joe he made. That's outrageous."

Bernhoft and Barnes, both of Bernhoft Law with offices in Malibu, were the lead trial attorneys for Wesley Snipes during the actor's January, 2008 tax fraud trial in Ocala, Florida, and obtained complete acquittals on all felony counts against Snipes.

Bernhoft notes parallels in the press coverage of Francis and that of Snipes.
"Many wrongly assumed Wes Snipes was guilty of the felony charges against him," said Bernhoft. "When we raised various facts for Wes during his trial, the local press said we were crazy. The jury heard the same facts, and acquitted Wes of all felony charges.

"I challenge those in L.A. who presumed Joe's guilt on these felony charges to stick around and look at the actual facts of Joe's case. It will surprise and shock many.

"This case is about an extreme case of an accountant's greed. This guy was looking to cash in. It's that simple."

Posted by Mayrav | 01:00 AM | Mo'guls, mo' problems

[Demosthenes]

Same story, different spin.

Girls Gone Wild’ Founder Facing Tax Evasion Charges

Last Edited: Monday, 21 Jul 2008, 1:37 AM PDT
Created: Monday, 21 Jul 2008, 1:25 AM PDT

Joe Francis

LOS ANGELES -- The founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on federal tax evasion charges in downtown Los Angeles.

Joe Francis, 35, is accused of deducting more than $20 million in bogus business expenses on his companies' corporate income tax returns for the years 2002 and 2003.

One of his companies is the Santa Monica-based Mantra Films Inc.

Prosecutors also allege Francis illegally transferred $15 million from an offshore bank account to a California brokerage account in the name of a Cayman Islands company under his control.

Other alleged illegal deductions include $3.78 million used to build a home in Mexico that was listed as a business expense, $10.4 million in bogus consulting services and a $500,000 phony insurance claim.

Francis was indicted last year on two counts of income tax evasion by a federal grand jury in Reno, Nev. In May, the case was transferred to Los Angeles.

If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of 10 years in federal prison and $500,000 in fines, although it is unlikely he would receive a punishment that severe.

Francis has made millions of dollars off the "Girls Gone Wild" videos, which generally show college-aged girls flashing their breasts and other body parts at bars, beaches and other young people hangouts, but the USC graduate is facing legal problems in other states as well.

He recently served 11 months in jail on tax-related charges.

In 2006, he was sentenced in Florida to probation and community service for violating a federal law that requires adult filmmakers to keep accurate paperwork proving the performers in their films are at least 18 years old, and in March he pleaded no contest to child abuse and prostitution charges.

Ashley Dupre, the call girl linked to former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, threatened to sue Francis claiming she was only 17 when she signed a contract to appear in one of his videos.

Francis released a video showing Dupre agreed to be filmed and identified herself as Amber Arpaio, but last week the real Amber Arpaio announced she would sue Dupre for using her lost driver's license to appear in the video. She also is suing Francis.

[Doktor Avalanche]

. o O (Tax Protestors Gone Wild?)

[Lambkin]

. o O (Tax Protestors Gone Wild?)

Damn you for flashing Robert Clarkson's moobs in my head.

[webhick]

Emphasis added.

Girls Gone Wild Guru Francis Sues Ex-Accountant
By Josh Grossberg Fri Jul 25, 8:51 AM PDT

Joe Francis is going wild on his former accountant.

The boob-obsessed Girls Gone Wild mogul has sued the former bookkeeper of his Mantra Films whose blabbing to the feds to hammer Francis with a tax-dodging case.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Michael Barrett of fraud for allegedly creating and preparing tax ledgers that the CPA personally reviewed and approved that contained various errors.

The suit claims that instead of alerting Francis or outside bean counters to the mistakes, Barrett instead contacted the Internal Revenue Service to collect a multimillion-dollar reward the agency offers for informing on would-be tax cheats.

"While Barrett was secretly trying to get Francis investigated by the Reno [Nevada] division of the IRS to recover his bounty from the mistaken books he previously prepared, provided and vouched for to Francis' tax return preparers, he never disclosed any problem to Francis," the complaint states.

"Francis...was never told by Barrett there were mistakes in the books and records and did not know until after the indictment about Barrett's conduct."

Robert Bernhoft, an attorney for the soft-core purveyor, blasted the feds for a faulty system that allowed his client to get into this situation in the first place.

"IRS informant rules permit a CPA who actually plans and initiates the tax return mistakes to still collect the tax informant reward, which in this case could go as high as $10 million," the lawyer says.

"If the case goes criminal, the tax rat gets even more. Outraged American taxpayers should demand an immediate end to this IRS Gone Wild program."

Citing unjust enrichment and negligence among other allegations, the suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

On Monday, the 35-year-old Francis pleaded not guilty in L.A. federal court to two felony counts of tax evasion for allegedly deducting more than $20 million in bogus business expenses on his 2002 and 2003 tax returns.

Francis is free on $1.5 million bond and a tentative trial date is set for Sept. 16. If convicted, he could face a maximum 10-year prison term and $500,000 in fines, but would likely get a lesser sentence.

Copyright © 2008 E! Online, Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: http://tv.yahoo.com/contributor/2409003 ... __ER:82620

I've seen the crack addict books prepared by bookkeepers who take their client's word for it and bring it to a whole new level (massive expenses, phony loans, missing income). I've also seen a number of CPA's who take the bookkeeper's word for it and who don't want the QB file at all - just the P&L and Balance Sheet. And clients who don't want to see their financials and who sign their tax returns without even looking at them.

It will be interesting to see which way the lawsuit goes, but the hiring of Bernhoft and Barnes doesn't exactly make Francis look more innocent, given the types of people they represent. Or maybe Francis is so stupid that he thought, "I'm gonna get the guy who defended BLADE! BLADE, DUDE! BLADE!"

[notorial dissent]

As repulsive as I find the little sleezeball, I find it hard to believe that he can be held criminally liable for “admitted” errors/incompetence of his accountant.

I can understand him being civilly liable for not having paid the right amounts, but I have a hard time finding the criminal connection if that is where this is going and that seems to be the direction.

On the other hand, since he has been in trouble before, I would also tend to take his protestations with large quantities of calf lik.

[Bashful]

It is difficult for me to believe that an accountant would be "responsible" for his transfer of $15 million offshore as a deduction. I think this is all smoke.

Let us see. You know you transferred $15 million offshore and built a $20 million house in Mexico and the AGI is whatever. Wouldn't a reasonable businessman question why the AGI was not compatable with what he knew he sent offshore?

Don't buy blame the accountant. No way. No how.

[notorial dissent]

I agree, the question, is which one of them is the bigger liar.

[Demosthenes]

The indictment:

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/francis1.pdf

[Nikki]

I must not be reading the indictment properly.

I didn't see a single thing that would roll the responsibility off Mr GGW and onto his accountant.

Could someone please enlighten me --- preferably NOT in a bad French accent.

[The Operative]

I must not be reading the indictment properly.

I didn't see a single thing that would roll the responsibility off Mr GGW and onto his accountant.

Could someone please enlighten me --- preferably NOT in a bad French accent.

I agree. However, I believe that his defense is going to be "my accountant told me to do it this way." Will he be able to convince a jury of that? I don't know. It will probably hinge upon how much (if any) documented communication he has. If he doesn't have any communications supporting his claim, it will probably go very badly for him.

[jg]

I must not be reading the indictment properly.

I didn't see a single thing that would roll the responsibility off Mr GGW and onto his accountant.

Could someone please enlighten me --- preferably NOT in a bad French accent.

Item 13 about false books and records provided to the tax preparer could include some items for which there was possibly no intent, or even knowledge, on the part of Francis. Of course, there are many other acts listed which the prosecutor will use to try to prove willful knowledge of tax evasion.
It appeared to be the books and not the tax preparation that was alluded to in the news reports posted earlier.

Francis has the right team for presenting the case that his actions were not willful, imo, and if the defense can baffle the jury with enough obscure tax regulations they may be able to buffalo them past the more glaring affirmative acts by Francis.

Just one man's opinion, yours may vary significantly.

[Joey Smith]

Who cares? Bernhoft & Barnes never win in the sense of vindicating their clients, but only have won in the sense that once in a while they avoid the worst possible penalty. Banister was not proven right (in the weakest of all possible cases based on the conspiracy claim against Al Thompson) and lost his CPA license, and "Blade" is about to spend a few years in prison in addition to having to pay his back taxes, interest and very substantial penalties.

[Burzmali]

My (completely unscientific) prediction:

If Francis takes the stand, he'll be convicted. Otherwise, he'll be acquitted.