Millionaires that forgot to pay their taxes

There are plenty of ways in wich the richest personalities got there. But there are also plenty of reasons they went to jail and paid for their mistakes.

See below a list of well-known personalities that forgot or did not wanted to pay their taxes out of greed. According to therichest.com, here are some of the shadiest millionaires that made mistakes.

Dolce and Gabbana

Fashion is big in the world, and Dolce and Gabbana are big time players in the business. In 1985, D&B made their debut at Milano Collezioni’s Nuovi Talenti. This “new talent” venue was perfect for D&B to get instant recognition. Since then, the company has enjoyed success and is worth over $1.5 billion. But all wasn’t rosy for the company. Taxes, taxes, and more taxes — the company was doing its best to avoid paying taxes. The Italian government was not amused and as times have gotten tight in Europe, they opted to crack down on those who were attempting to avoid paying their fair share. D&B came up on their radar. Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce were both arrested on tax evasion charges. They ended up getting a 20-month suspended sentence and a whopping $1-billion charge in taxes and fees. They had set up a fictitious company to help shield them from their tax liabilities, using it as a false write-off for years. The government caught up with them. They have been back and forth with the Italian courts that have changed their minds on their guilt depending on who was being paid off and when.

Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi was the former Prime Minister of Italy. Silvio was a favorite of voters, being a four-term PM for his country. However, his success was not exactly scandal-free. For years Silvio had a myriad of issues during his tenure. He had numerous run-ins and accusations that never quite stuck to him. He was hit with many sex scandals during his time in office, all of which seemed to just roll off of him. But in 2013, things seemed to catch up with Silvio. He got caught in a tax scandal he couldn’t deny or talk his way out of. He was hit with a 4-year sentence which was ultimately reduced to 1 year. Silvio ended up doing unpaid community service to pay back his time. The charges and arrest were an embarrassing end to an otherwise tumultuous tenure.

Bar Refaeli

Apparently, being hot can get you in and out of almost any situation, except when you decide not to pay taxes. Back in December 2015, Bar Refaeli‘s home was raided by the Israeli authorities due to suspicions over tax evasion. The supermodel and her mother were targeted for lying about where they lived and all those expensive properties and cars, which were “gifted” to her. They used residency as the catalyst for avoiding paying taxes due to her homeland rules. In addition to avoiding paying taxes for income in the millions, Refaeli was also accused of accepting various perks, which included apartments and cars that were stashed in other family members’ names, her mother and brother being two of them. Refaeli was regularly photographed in a Range Rover and Lexus she claimed to be given to other family members and not her. The whole spectacle was clear as day to many despite Refaeli trying to get out of trouble. The investigation has spanned over a year and continues to be a high-stakes pissing contest between the supermodel and her home country.

Wesley Snipes

Let’s go straight to Mr. 1990s, Wesley Snipes, and dive down into some of his issues. It’s very rare that you see a celebrity the likes of Wesley Snipes (and he was pretty darn big) going down in court and actually having to serve time for his financial transgressions. But Snipes set out to cheat the system to the tune of millions, and Uncle Sam wasn’t about to let him walk without letting him take a hit to his pocketbook to go along with his lost freedom. It was April 24, 2008, when Johnny-Law finally caught up with Snipes. The actor was sentenced to 3 years in prison while his money manager got 10 years for falsifying tax returns and tax amendments in order to collect more cash from Uncle Sam. Snipes tried to get out of his issues and appealed to the Supreme Court but was ultimately denied and had to serve his time for falsifying millions in earnings.

Lauryn Hill

The sultry and sexy singer of the Fugees, Lauryn Hill, wowed audiences across the world with her beauty and vocal abilities. Although the Fugees are no more, this 8-time Grammy winner got three months in Federal prison when she avoided paying taxes from 2005-2007. Hill dipped out on her tax responsibilities and opted to not pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in money she brought in. She blames her tax evasion on dropping out of the music business. So if you translate that to a normal human being, if you switch jobs, you don’t have to pay taxes on that severance package you get? Yeah, not so much Lauryn. And she rightfully got smacked by the law. Ironically, right after serving out her prison sentence, she jumped right back into the music business with a hyped-up post-prison show.