Ex-Celebrity Big Brother contestant Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is to appear in court this month after he allegedly evaded taxes on millions of pounds of income.
The former star of MTV’s reality show Jersey Shore and his brother Marc face new charges including tax evasion and structuring and falsifying records, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said.
The two men had previously been charged with filing false tax returns and conspiring to defraud the United States in September 2014 and denied the alleged offences.
Prosecutors say the brothers allegedly failed to properly pay income tax on 8.9 million dollars (£7.2m) earned by Mike between 2010 and 2012.
The pair created businesses – such as MPS Entertainment LLC and Situation Nation Inc – to “exploit Michael’s celebrity status” and allegedly claimed luxury car and clothing purchases were business expenses, the DoJ said.
Mike is accused of evading his 2011 income taxes by failing to file a personal return, filing a false corporate return for Situation Nation and concealing his cash income.
Prosecutors say he also made a series of bank deposits of under 10,000 dollars to avoid bank reporting requirements.
The new charges against Mike include tax evasion and structuring funds to evade currency transaction reports, while his brother Marc is charged with falsifying records to obstruct a grand jury investigation.
Mike faces up to 10 years in prison for the structuring charge and five years in prison for the tax evasion count, while Marc faces up to 20 years in prison.
Both men will enter pleas at a court hearing in New Jersey on April 17. Mike’s lawyer Henry Klingeman has indicated his client will plead not guilty.
Mike appeared in all six series of MTV reality show Jersey Shore between 2009 and 2012.
He also entered the UK’s Celebrity Big Brother house in 2012, finishing in fourth place.
