Snipes Found in Namibia

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Snipes Found in Namibia
Actor is shooting a horror film in Africa
October 20, 2006


Wesley Snipes in 'Blade: Trinity'The warrant for Wesley Snipes' arrest has led authorities to the land of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's birth.

The "Blade" actor, who's been indicted for tax fraud, is currently shooting a film in Namibia, which has no extradition treaty with Washington, reports Reuters.

"It is confirmed. He is definitely here," says Edwin Kanguatjivi, chief executive officer of the Namibia Film Commission. "He has been in Namibia since the end of August."

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Snipes is filming "Gallowwalker," a horror-western in which he plays a gunman whose victims return from the dead. The project is shooting in the Namibian desert close to where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were hiding out for the birth of their child in May.

The actor is wanted on an indictment that alleges he filed false refund claims of about $12 million and failed to file tax returns for six years. He faces a maximum of 16 years in prison if he's convicted on all counts.

It's not certain what the United States will do in this situation regarding the lack of formal extradition treaty with Namibia. In an unrelated case, U.S. officials are going to request Namibia for the extradition of another man, fugitive U.S. software millionaire Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, to face charges of manipulating stock options.

source zap2it

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Snipes to continue Namibia shoot





Actor Wesley Snipes arrives for a movie premiere in New York, March 20, 2006. Snipes will continue filming as planned in Namibia despite the U.S. warrant for his arrest on tax fraud charges. (AP/Stuart Ramson)

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) - Wesley Snipes will continue filming as planned in Namibia despite the U.S. warrant for his arrest on tax fraud charges, the producer of "Gallowwalker" said Monday.

Joanne Reay said Snipes, who is the lead actor in the movie, was on location in the desert near the town of Swakob. Reay said Snipes had travelled to Namibia to shoot the film and not to flee U.S. justice. She said the plan was to stay until the third week in December.

"As far as we understand, Wesley is not going to be arrested in Namibia," she told The Associated Press.

"We are shooting and we are continuing to shoot," said Reay. "We are aware of the issue around the tax charges but we are not discussing it."

Snipes, 44, was indicted last week on eight counts of tax fraud, accused of trying to cheat the government out of nearly $12 million in false refund claims and not filing returns for six years. If convicted of all the charges, he could face 16 years in prison.

At the time, prosecutors said they couldn't arrest Snipes because they didn't know where he was.


Reay said Snipes wasn't staying at the luxury lodge near Swakob where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt awaited the birth of their daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, earlier this year.

According to the indictment, Snipes had his taxes prepared by accountants with a history of filing false returns to reap payments for their clients. The firm, American Rights Litigators, would receive 20 per cent of refunds from clients, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said Snipes fraudulently claimed refunds totalling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 on income taxes already paid.

The star of the "Blade" trilogy, "Jungle Fever" and "White Men Can't Jump" was also charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.