Actor Wesley Snipes has sought legal advice about how to refinance his $1.6 million mansion while jailed until 2013 for tax evasion, the New York Post reports.
?The loan for Snipes’ house in Alpine, N.J. would have “balloon interest payments” that he would have to pay upon his release from jail. And according to a source, the “Blade” star needs to save as much money as he can.
“All of Wesley’s bank accounts are wiped out. His four kids have nothing to live on,” the source told the New York Post. The source told the news outlet that the actor’s attorney has reached out to different mortgage companies to help him refinance and has tried to get a hold of Snipes’ income from merchandise and TV residuals, as funds continue to dwindle for the star.
“As you can imagine, it is true that his family is having financial challenges, mainly due to his current situation,” a Snipes representative told the website
Radio personality Rush Limbaugh, who is known for his conservative views, mentioned Snipes’ tax issues in a May 24 show where he challenged the issue of how some people are sentenced for tax evasion and others are not.
“Okay, the question is how do government contractors, nonprofits, owe back taxes and not go to jail and people like Wesley Snipes doesn’t pay his taxes and goes to jail?” he said. “He refused to pay, and thereby goes to jail. But the correct answer to the question is, there isn’t any fairness or equity across the board on taxes.”
Snipes reported to the McKean Federal Correctional Institution in Lewis Run, Pennsylvania in December 2010. The actor owed taxes from 1999, 2000 and 2001, according to Hollywood.com
Before Snipes went to jail, he told Larry King that he was nervous about going to prison and said he was upset that the judge allowed the guilty verdict to stand even though a juror admitted that he knew three other jurors.