Six months after reneging on a plea agreement, Richard Hatch faces 10 criminal counts, including using charity donations for personal use.

09:29 AM EDT on Friday, September 9, 2005

BY RICHARD SALIT
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- The latest episode in the federal tax-evasion case against Newport's Richard Hatch -- like any good TV sequel -- has the Survivor star confronting even more shocking accusations and more perilous criminal charges.

Journal file photo

Richard Hatch

Yesterday, six months after Hatch walked away from an agreement to plead guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns, a grand jury indicted him on 10 criminal counts. The charges include tax evasion, filing a false income tax return and fraud. The most serious charge carries a 30-year prison sentence and a $1-million fine.

The indictment echoed allegations the U.S. Attorney made against Hatch last March, namely that he failed to report earnings of $1,010,000 for winning the first season of Survivor and $326,540 for appearances on a Boston talk-radio program.

But the grand jury also accused Hatch, 44, of taking for personal use $36,500 in money donated to a tax-exempt charity he purportedly established.

The indictment also offers further evidence of Hatch's intent to conceal his earnings. He allegedly declined to submit tax returns for 2000 that were prepared for him separately by two accountants and which included his Survivor-related earnings. One showed him owing the IRS $441,501.

Hatch allegedly asked a third accountant to determine what his tax liability would have been without the Survivor jackpot he won. The accountant presented him a return for "informational purposes" indicating that he would have been owed a $4,483 refund. Despite assuring the accountant orally and in writing that he would not file the return, Hatch sent it to the IRS, according to the indictment.

The court papers also indicate that Hatch failed to report $28,104 he collected for renting his Newport residence on Annandale Road and the $27,074 value of the Pontiac Aztec he won on Survivor.

"IRS' top enforcement priorities include discouraging and deterring underreporting of income by high-income taxpayers and misuse of tax-exempt organizations," Rebecca Sparkman, special agent in charge of the Boston office of the Internal Revenue Service, said at a news conference yesterday at the U.S. Attorney's office.

"It is sad to see actions such as these that are alleged today, which undermine confidence in our tax system. Paying taxes is not a game and today's 10-count indictment reflects the IRS' commitment to enforce the tax laws."

A summons will be issued for Hatch to appear for arraignment in U.S. District Court, Providence. No arraignment date has been set.

CBS' Survivor, the first hit reality show on TV, made an instant celebrity out of Hatch, a corporate trainer and consultant. He attracted the spotlight not just for winning, but for his arrogant and cunning ways. Not only that, the openly gay Hatch refused to wear clothes during the survival contest on the island off Borneo.

But nearly five years after Hatch won the $1-million prize and began cashing in on his newfound fame, the U.S. Attorney's office brought its first tax-evasion case against him.

Hatch signed an agreement in January indicating he would plead guilty to two counts of tax evasion, with each count carrying a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The case was not presented to a grand jury.

But in March, when Hatch balked at pleading guilty, the U.S. Attorney's office withdrew the charges it had agreed to bring against Hatch. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Reich and Lee Vilker then went before a grand jury seeking an indictment on "all possible charges," U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente said.

The indictment brought to light the allegations of improprieties relating to Hatch's charity, Horizon Bound. A Web site promoting Hatch's book and speaking services describes Horizon Bound as "an outdoor adventure for teens, whose purpose is to foster the development of self-esteem and confidence in teen-agers. . . . through a variety of challenging outdoor programs. . . . all meant to encourage inter-dependence [and] shared responsibility."

Hatch is described as the "director to help finance the kind of structured, outdoor adventure experience that turned his life around as a troubled teenager." Horizon Bound is said to be "affiliated with YMCA Camp Fuller."

The indictment alleges that Hatch accepted a $25,000 donation to Horizon Bound from the producers of a pilot TV show about raising money for good causes, called For Goodness Sake! The show never aired, but the money was deposited in Hatch's personal bank account and not spent "on any charitable purpose," the court papers state. At that time, Horizon Bound had not received tax-exempt status as a nonprofit charitable organization.

Hatch also accepted contributions to Horizon Bound of $10,000 for appearing on the TV quiz show The Weakest Link and $1,500 for Horizon Bound for a speaking engagement at East Boston Savings Bank. This money was also used for personal uses, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The maximum penalties for the charges Hatch faces are five years year in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the two counts of tax evasion, three years in prison and a $100,000 fine for filing a false income tax return, and 30 years in prison and a $1-million fine for each of four counts of mail, bank and wire fraud.

Hatch did not return a message left at his home in Newport yesterday.

Reporter Richard Salit can be reached at 277-7467 or by e-mail at rsalit [at] projo.com

Digital Extra: Read the full text of the federal indictment against Survivor star Richard Hatch of Newport, at:

http://projo.com/news/pdf/2005/0908hatch.pdf