Joe Francis indicted for tax evasion

RENO, Nev., April 11 (UPI) -- "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis was indicted by a grand jury in Nevada on tax evasion charges, the federal government announced Wednesday.

Francis, 34, of Santa Monica, Calif., was charged with deducting more than $20 million in false business expenses on his 2002 and 2003 corporate income tax returns for Mantra Films Inc. and Sands Media Inc., the Los Angeles Times reported.

He is scheduled to appear May 22 before a U.S. magistrate judge in Reno, Nev.

Francis, who built his empire selling sexually charged videos, is charged with using offshore bank accounts to hide income earned during those two years, the indictment said.

Francis also allegedly transferred more than $15 million from an offshore account to a brokerage account held in the name of Rothwell Limited, a Cayman Islands corporation Francis controlled, the Justice Department said.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined up to $500,000.

On Tuesday, Francis was arrested in Panama City, Fla., on a contempt of court citation. The arrest followed a breakdown in talks to settle a civil lawsuit filed by seven women alleging they were victimized by Francis' crews during filming in Florida in 2003.