'Girls Gone Wild' founder Joe Francis was indicted today on federal tax evasion charges for illegally deducting more than $20 million in false business expenses from his corporate tax returns in 2002 and 2003.
According to the two-count indictment, Francis used offshore bank accounts to conceal his corporate earnings. The Smoking Gun reports that "[Francis] transferred $15 million from one offshore bank account to a California brokerage account in the name of a Cayman Islands corporation he controlled."
If convicted of the charges, Francis faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000.
Francis was arrested yesterday on an separate federal warrant stemming from a civil lawsuit brought against him in Panama City, Florida.
