"Survivor" Tax Trial Set

Thu., Dec. 22, 2005 1:35 PM PST by Marcus Errico

The tribe has spoken: original Survivor champ Richard Hatch will stand trial next month on tax evasion charges.

U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres on Wednesday denied three motions filed by lawyers for the clothes-eschewing reality star and ordered him back to the federal courthouse in Providence, Rhode Island, on Jan. 10 for the start of jury selection.

Hatch's lawyers had asked Torres to delay the trial and make prosecutors put an exact dollar figure on the amount Hatch allegedly owes in unpaid taxes.

Hatch, 44, was indicted in September on 10 charges, including his failure to pay taxes on the $1 million prize he received for his victory on the first season of the reality series.

Other charges faced by the Rhode Island native include filing a false tax return, wire fraud, bank fraud and mail fraud.

Hatch has pleaded innocent across the board.

On top of neglecting to pay taxes on his Survivor winnings, Hatch allegedly filed false tax returns in 2000 and 2001 and failed to report $327,000 he raked in by hosting a Boston-based radio show, as well as $28,000 he earned from a rental property he owns, U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente said.

According to the indictment, Hatch had two accountants prepare tax returns including his reality winnings, but did not file them when he learned he would be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead, he had one of the accountants prepare a new return in 2002 that did not include the Survivor prize and called for a $4,500 return.

Hatch also allegedly dipped into donations to his charity, Horizon Bound, spending some $36,500 of the funds supposedly allocated to the charity on his personal expenses. In one example, he allegedly used a $10,000 donation he received for appearing on an episode of The Weakest Link towards completing some renovations on his home.

The former Survivor contestant, known for his frequent displays of nudity on the show, was originally indicted for two counts of tax evasion last January.

Hatch originally agreed to plead guilty to the charges, but later backed out of the agreement in March, claiming he believed CBS was responsible for taking care of the taxes on his $1 million Survivor prize.

The network emphatically denied the suggestion, stating that Hatch, famed for his conniving ways on the show, was well-aware that it was his responsibility to pony up the tax fees.

If Hatch is found guilty on all 10 charges, he could face 75 years behind bars and millions of dollars in fines.

It's certainly not the first time Hatch has faced a run-in with the law.

Apart from his tax-related misfortunes, Hatch was arrested in 2000 for allegedly abusing his then nine-year-old son. That charge was later dropped. Then, in 2002, Hatch was found guilty of assaulting his ex-boyfriend, but the charge was later overturned.