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Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The special counsel who has been investigating Hunter Biden announced Thursday that he has filed a second indictment against the son of President Joe Biden, charging him with nine tax-related offenses. The 56-page indictment was returned by a federal grand jury, charging Hunter Biden with three felony and six misdemeanor tax offenses on accusations of failing to pay his taxes, failing to file his tax returns and filing fraudulent tax returns.
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"The defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019," special counsel David Weiss wrote in the indictment.
The court document states that between 2016 and 2020, Biden earned more than $7 million in gross income, as well as receiving another $1.2 million in financial support from an unnamed "personal friend." Prosecutors accuse the president's son of using this money to fund an "extravagant lifestyle."
"Between 2016 and Oct. 15, 2020, the defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes," the indictment states.
The indictment states that for the years 2016 to 2019, Biden "willfully failed" to pay his taxes on time, despite having the funds to do so. It also accuses him of failing to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns, though when he did eventually file his 2018 return, he "included false business deductions" to reduce his tax responsibilities.
If convicted, Biden faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison, the Justice Department told UPI in an emailed release.
The indicted is the second Weiss has filed against Biden, and was expected after a previous plea deal on federal tax charges dramatically fell apart at the last minute in the summer over a dispute concerning a separate gun-related charge.
In mid-September, Weiss filed three charges against Biden related to the unlawful possession of a firearm in 2018, making him the first child of a sitting president to be charged by the U.S. Justice Department.
He is accused in the September indictment of lying about his alleged drug use in October 2018 in order to buy a Colt Cobra .38 Special. Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Weiss, a Republican who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, has been investigating Biden since 2019 under the previous administration, and was elevated to special counsel by the Biden administration's attorney general, Merrick Garland, in August.
Hunter Biden last month asked the judge overseeing his case to subpoena Trump, former Attorney General William Barr and other officials of the Trump administration, saying the information they hold is critical to his defense. His lawyers contend that the case against their client is the result of a "unrelenting pressure campaign" that began with the Trump administration, resulting in a "vindictive or selective prosecution."
Weiss last week pushed back, arguing in court documents that Biden's allegations are unsupported and that the charges were filed while his father was president of the country.
