![Whitney Houston -- Prescription Drugs Found ... Possible Drowning [Exclusive Photo Update]](http://ll-media.tmz.com/2012/02/12/0211-hero-whitney2-248x127.jpg)
More drama for "Girls Gone Wild" kingpin Joe Francis -- this time, he claims three of his most trusted employees hatched a plan to have the porn king thrown in prison so they could get away with stealing millions from the GGW empire. 
In a lawsuit, filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Francis says it all began in 2002, when 3 "high-level employees" from his company hatched a plan to embezzle money through a new business called "WMR Marketing" -- which they created without Joe's knowledge.
According to court documents, Francis says the men "misused their positions" to approve deals with WMR so they could funnel GGW funds to the new company.
Here's where it gets really nasty -- Francis claims his company's former CFO/ CPA, Michael Barrett, began contacting the IRS and "falsely accusing [Joe] of criminal tax evasion, hoping that the IRS would prosecute and incarcerate Francis -- thereby removing the possibility that Francis could catch the ongoing fraud and theft by Barrett and his cohorts."
Francis was eventually indicted on a tax evasion charge in Reno, for allegedly claiming $20 million in false deductions.
Now Francis is suing all three of his former employees -- and WMR -- for an unspecified amount of cash ... we're assuming in the millions.
See More
Reader Comments
(Page 1 of 3) | 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments
I don't like the GGW franchise, but I feel for anyone who has a lot of money and then has to deal with people stealing from them.
I hate criminals , and these guys were trusted ,well in big busuness don't trust anyone! Good luck Joe
what do you expect, joe, you're a tool surrounded by a bunch of other tools!!!!!!
someone's gonna end up killing this guy some day, he won't make it to 50; he's so vile and disgusting, and such a crybaby!!!
What? You mean a tax-evading criminal like Joe Francis has business partners who are NOT TRUSTWORTHY? My god, what a shock!
Lay down with dogs and you get fleas, Joe. Suck it up.
When are they gonna stop trying to drag Joe Francis down? The man has never been found guilty of anything, but they still try to go after him. It's hilarious.
Joe Francis is a genius businessman and somebody you don't want to mess with. These guys are going down.
You never have to worry about your enemies in business... You know who they are. It is your family and friends that will hurt you.
Poor dude, I mean, really....about time guys like this get what they deserve (not Joe, these jealous bastards who are trying to bring him down!!!!)
I'm not a big Joe Francis fan, but the guy sure seems to get a lot of bad press for stuff that turns out to be not true. Unbelievable.
What losers....play with fire and you're gonna get burned!! They deserve jail time!!!
He's rich, he's good-looking, he's successful, so of course, the government wants to put Joe away. Never happen. He's smarter than them. LOL
I've always been a big fan of Joe and his work--people are just jealous because he is so smart and successful. Stealing is never the answer, and they deserve just what they'll get---these guys made their beds, and now they have to lie in them. Sucks to be them!!
