Actors Charged with Fraud, Embezzlement or Tax Evasion

Legal troubles sometimes catch up with stars as quickly as their breakout roles. This list takes a straightforward look at male actors who were charged with fraud, embezzlement, or tax evasion, and briefly notes the work they’re best known for—what the projects are about, who made them, and who starred alongside them.

Along the way, you’ll see quick snapshots of the movies and shows tied to these names—from vampire-hunting action and basketball hustles to family sagas and historical dramas—so there’s context for the careers behind the headlines.

Wesley Snipes

Federal prosecutors charged Wesley Snipes in a tax case that led to a jury convicting him on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file federal income tax returns; he was acquitted of felony tax fraud and conspiracy, later receiving a three-year sentence and serving time before release. On screen, he headlined Marvel’s ‘Blade’, built around a half-vampire vigilante hunting undead foes; it was produced by New Line with Stephen Norrington directing and featured Kris Kristofferson and N’Bushe Wright. He also co-led Ron Shelton’s basketball hustle comedy ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ with Woody Harrelson and Rosie Perez.

During appeals and incarceration milestones—appeal denied and report to prison followed by release—Snipes remained widely associated with action hits like ‘Demolition Man’, directed by Marco Brambilla with Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock, and the crime thriller ‘New Jack City’, directed by Mario Van Peebles with Ice-T and Judd Nelson. Coverage at the time noted his release after serving most of the term.

Stephen Baldwin

Stephen Baldwin pleaded guilty in New York to a charge related to failing to file state income tax returns for multiple years, with authorities outlining back-taxes, interest, and penalties and a repayment plan approved by the court. His best-known work includes ‘The Usual Suspects’, a crime mystery directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie, featuring an ensemble with Kevin Spacey, Benicio del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, and more; he also starred in the buddy comedy ‘Bio-Dome’, directed by Jason Bloom with Pauly Shore.

Reports at sentencing emphasized that his deal avoided jail if he met the repayment obligations. Beyond that headline, Baldwin’s filmography includes action caper ‘Fled’, directed by Kevin Hooks and pairing him with Laurence Fishburne, and appearances in projects spanning indie dramas to studio comedies.

Raoul Bova

An Italian court in Rome convicted Raoul Bova for a tax offense described in Italian filings as “dichiarazione fraudolenta mediante artifici,” imposing a one-year-and-six-month sentence that was suspended; coverage detailed allegations involving costs shifted to a personal-image company to reduce VAT burdens. International audiences know Bova from ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’, a romantic drama directed by Audrey Wells from Frances Mayes’s memoir, starring Diane Lane as a writer rebuilding her life in Italy, with Bova playing a charming local connected to the story’s embrace of Tuscany’s settings.

Earlier dispatches also noted his indictment before trial, and later reports tracked related proceedings; on screen, he crossed into genre fare with ‘Alien vs. Predator’, Paul W. S. Anderson’s Antarctica-set action-horror about a hidden pyramid drawing two iconic species into battle, co-starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen.

Imanol Arias

Spain’s National Court issued a sentence of two years and two months for Imanol Arias in the ‘Nummaria’ tax-fraud case, with contemporaneous reporting describing an agreement with prosecutors and repayment of funds as part of the resolution. Arias is long associated with ‘Cuéntame cómo pasó’, the TVE family saga created by Miguel Ángel Bernardeau and produced by Grupo Ganga, where he plays Antonio Alcántara opposite Ana Duato in a period portrait of Spain’s social and political changes.

Coverage summarized tax-offense windows tied to the case; in film, Arias earned acclaim portraying Eleuterio Sánchez in ‘El Lute: camina o revienta’, Vicente Aranda’s gritty drama based on the real-life escapee whose notoriety intersected with Spain’s late-dictatorship era, co-starring Victoria Abril and produced within the country’s 80s wave of hard-edged biographical crime stories.

Zach Avery

Zachary Horwitz—known professionally as Zach Avery—was arrested and later pleaded guilty to securities fraud for running a film-licensing Ponzi scheme; a federal judge sentenced him to twenty years in prison, and authorities detailed forged licensing paperwork and fake streaming-platform deals designed to lure investors. As an actor, his credits include a small role in David Ayer’s war drama ‘Fury’, led by Brad Pitt with Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman, and an appearance in ‘The White Crow’, Ralph Fiennes’s drama about Rudolf Nureyev starring Oleg Ivenko.

Prosecutors and filings outlined how investor funds were cycled and how documents imitating HBO and Netflix were used to bolster the pitch; Avery also appeared in the creature-horror ‘The Devil Below’, directed by Bradley Parker, which centers on a team probing an abandoned Appalachian mine and features an ensemble of genre regulars.

Share your thoughts—and any other examples you think belong here—in the comments.