The son of President Joe Biden was charged Thursday in Los Angeles with felony and misdemeanor tax offenses for allegedly refusing to pay his taxes and subverting the payroll and withholding process of his own company.
Hunter Biden, 53, of Los Angeles, “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The indictment alleges that Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme in which he chose not to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019 and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns.
It was not immediately known when Biden would make his initial appearance in Los Angeles federal court.
Prosecutors allege Biden withdrew millions of dollars from his company’s coffers outside of the payroll and tax withholding process; stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015; failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes; failed to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns, on time; and when filing his 2018 returns, included false business deductions in order to reduce the very substantial tax liability he faced as of February 2020.
Biden’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
If convicted, Biden faces up to 17 years in prison, prosecutors noted, adding that the investigation is ongoing.