“Jersey Shore” star Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino and his brother, March Sorrentino, pleaded not guilty Monday to additional tax fraud charges. The brothers are being charged with filing fake tax returns and claiming luxury car and clothing purchases as business expenses. On Monday, Michael and Marc Sorrentino entered their pleas during an arraignment in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. “This is a complicated case – Michael is not a complicated person,” Michael Sorrentino’s attorney, Henry Klingeman, told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing had concluded. Marc Sorrentino’s attorney declined to comment on the proceedings. In 2014, the Sorrentino’s pleaded not guilty to charges of tax fraud on approximately $9 million and millions in claimed personal expenses as business expenses. Michael Sorrentino was recently indicted on charges including tax evasion, falsifying records, and structuring bank deposits to avoid reporting requirements. Marc Sorrentino, on the other hand, was charged with falsifying records to obstruct a grand jury investigation. Federal prosecutors says Michael Sorrentino didn’t pay income tax on the $8.9 million he earned from 2010 to 2012,. Sorrentino also failed to file a personal tax return for 2011 and filed a fake corporate return for one of the companies the brothers created after he became famous. Prosecutors also allege that he made several bank deposits of under $10,000 to avoid bank reporting requirements. After the brothers were subpoenaed to provide financial records from their companies, prosecutors claim Marc Sorrentino falsified records to reclassify taxable payments to himself as nontaxable payments and business deductions. “The Situation” appeared on all six seasons of the MTV “Jersey Shore,” which ruled the pop culture airways from 2009 to 2012. Source: Associated Press
