Snipes' lawyer admits his letters were 'kooky'

'Kooky, crazy and loony is not a crime,' Snipes' lawyer tells the court in closing arguments

Written by Penny Sukhraj

Lawyers acting for Wesley Snipes in his tax evasion case have admitted their client's correspondence, which flooded the tax office was sometimes 'kooky, crazy and loony'.

Instead of filing tax returns on his £19m earnings, Snipes sent several letters to the US tax agency between 1999 and 2004.

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He is charged with six counts of failing to file returns and two further charges for fraudulently claiming tax refunds, and one to defraud the government.

His lawyer, Robert Barnes, told the court in closing arguments yesterday that 'Kooky, crazy and loony is not a crime,' Reuters reported.

Prosecutors have brought a case showing that the star of Blade ignored warnings to pay his tax and instead conspired with tax denial accountants Eddie Kahn and Douglas Rosile, to defraud the government.

The jury must now decide whether Snipes' letters to the Internal Revenue Service was an effort to construct dialogue over their procedures or whether he intended to criminally avoid paying millions in taxes that he owed from previous years.

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