Celebrity Justice
IndyCar Driver/"Dancing" Champ Indicted

Helio Castroneves TMZ has learned that Helio Castroneves has been indicted for allegedly not paying taxes on more than $5 million. Castroneves was indicted today in Miami. The charges -- Conspiracy to Defraud the U.S. and Tax Evasion.

According to the indictment, Helio and two others are accused of using "an offshore Panamanian shell corporation Seven Promotions to conceal and disguise the true and correct amount of Helio Castroneves' income from the Internal Revenue Service."

Helio was indicted along with his sister, Katiucia Castroneves and Alan Miller, Helio's lawyer. The three are charged with conspiracy "for the purpose of impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions of the Internal Revenue Service."

They are accused of trying to "conceal and disguise" Helio's income. One of the charges -- that Helio received $2 million in salary from a Brazilian trading company but made it appear that he only received $200,000.

The Conspiracy and Tax Evasion charges are each punishable by a maximum of 5 years in federal prison.

Castroneves is known to some as a race car driver, but recently gained wider fame by winning "Dancing with the Stars."

Reader Comments

(Page 6 of 6) Previous 15 Comments

76. He will do the best mambo in prison for sure!!

Posted at 7:44AM on Oct 3rd 2008 by Kelli

77. Is the guy an American? If he is not and the money was earned outside the US, why is this even an IRS issue?

Posted at 2:54PM on Oct 3rd 2008 by Gary

78. Do you think he will express in court the fact that there is no law saying that you have to pay taxes?

Posted at 5:37PM on Oct 3rd 2008 by worldly guesser

79. Had to pass this one on from one of the racing forums "When he gets to prison he will give new meaning to the phrase sitting on poll"

Posted at 3:36PM on Oct 3rd 2008 by Scrappy

80. BostonKate, his spelling was correct. You are the moron.

Posted at 3:46PM on Oct 3rd 2008 by andy

81. Helio, Helio, Helio...........pay up or your new costume will be the color orange.

Posted at 5:08PM on Oct 3rd 2008 by Karen McMinn

82. It all boils down to one thing.................greed!

Posted at 4:04AM on Oct 4th 2008 by tbdldam

83. Oh good. Now I don't have to hear him call Julianne Ho, "JUJU". Sickening.

Posted at 11:29AM on Oct 4th 2008 by Dale

84. To #29... get your facts straight before you pretend to know anything about Indy racing. He is NOT sponsored by Target. He's a great IRL driver... can't take that away from him. If he screwed up I'm sure he'll pay the price. As usual... when reading the blogs here... people seem to live in glass houses.

Posted at 8:25PM on Oct 4th 2008 by IndyRules

Previous 15 Comments