Hatch: I thought CBS would
pay taxes

updated 3:58 p.m. ET March 11, 2005

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Richard Hatch, the first winner of CBS’ “Survivor,” said he thought the network was responsible for paying the taxes on his $1 million prize and that’s why he didn’t pay them.

Hatch told AP Radio Friday in an interview from Los Angeles that he was “absolutely not guilty.”

Prosecutors have charged Hatch with filing false 2000 and 2001 tax returns, omitting his income from the reality show, as well as $321,000 he was paid by a Boston radio station.

Hatch, who lives in Newport, backed out of a plea agreement last week, and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Providence turned the case over to a grand jury.

He has been free on $50,000 bond since his arraignment in January. The government has said the taxes Hatch owes are between $200,000 and $400,000.

Hatch’s lawyer, Michael Minns, told AP Radio that under California law, Hatch should have been classified as a CBS employee and therefore CBS was responsible for withholding taxes from his winnings.

“He was under the impression that they were either going to withhold from the check or pay the tax, and apparently neither occurred,” Minns said.

Minns said the network has never explained whether Hatch’s prize was $1 million or $1 million minus the taxes.

In an e-mail statement, CBS said: “Richard Hatch was well aware of his obligation to pay taxes on his ‘Survivor’ prize money.”

Hatch said he was unfairly targeted by the IRS and prosecutors.

“I’m being used as an example, as a scapegoat. And I’m innocent,” he said. “This is nothing more than their effort to use my notoriety to get other people to pay taxes.”

Tom Connell, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, wouldn’t comment, saying there was an open and active investigation.

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