In 2014, Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino, who rose to fame by once pointing at his abs and speaking two words (we have an incredibly low bar for celebrity here in America), was indicted for tax evasion.
Federal authorities alleged that Sorrentino and his brother, Marc, defrauded the American people by not paying taxes on $8.9 million he made from his company, Situation Nation.
What Situation Nation may have done to obtain $8.9 million in income is really anyone’s guess.
Today, the government issued a superseding indictment. More charges, basically. From the Department of Justice release:
In September 2014, the Sorrentino brothers were indicted for tax offenses and conspiring to defraud the United States. The superseding indictment returned today includes new charges against both men. Michael is now also charged with tax evasion and structuring funds to evade currency transaction reports and Marc is now also charged with falsifying records to obstruct a grand jury investigation. An arraignment on the superseding indictment is scheduled on April 17 at 11:30 a.m. before U.S. District Court Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark, New Jersey.
The U.S. government, you could say, had an indictment before the indictment.
The superseding indictment further alleges that Michael evaded his 2011 income taxes—failing to file a personal return, filing a false corporate return for Situation Nation and concealing his cash income.
The superseding indictment also charges that Michael made multiple cash deposits on the same day in amounts less than $10,000, into different bank accounts that he controlled, in an effort to evade the banks’ reporting requirements—banks are required to file reports with the U.S. Treasury for cash deposits exceeding $10,000. These reports include the identity of the person who conducted the transaction and the individual or organization for whom the transaction was completed.
The superseding indictment also alleges that after being served with Grand Jury subpoenas seeking books and records of MPS and Situation Nation, but prior to producing the books and records to the Grand Jury, Marc falsified them by altering and reclassifying taxable payments to himself as non-taxable payments and as legitimate business deductions.
If, though, you were worried that every person on Twitter wasn’t making the exact same joke, don’t worry.
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/850420347136495616
https://twitter.com/jdoss42/status/850422186930294785
Damn… We got a Situation #GymTanTaxEvasion https://t.co/92a5n6PNwj
— Ryan (@RPBren) April 7, 2017
Hahahahahahahahahaha 'Gym Tan Laundering' https://t.co/UISgVe3OHT
— Charlie Crowley (@CCrowley4) April 7, 2017
Gym, Tan, Jail https://t.co/qCGyJup309
— Brian Baker (@brianXbaker) April 7, 2017
Gym. Tan. Laundering. pic.twitter.com/dyyrMvHiZI
— Sauna Insider (@NickHannula) April 7, 2017
https://twitter.com/DougVanHorne/status/850426792930402304
In 2015, the Situation’s tax preparer pled guilty to filing false returns.