Australia won't charge actor Paul Hogan over tax

[November 23, 2010]  SYDNEY (AP) -- Australian detectives said Tuesday they have dropped a five-year-old criminal investigation into "Crocodile Dundee" star Paul Hogan's tax dealings.

Australian Crime Commission Chief Executive John Lawler said in a statement that they were not pursuing the probe for a range of reasons including "insufficient prospects of securing convictions."

Australian tax and crime investigators had fought Hogan in a five-year legal battle in Australian and U.S. courts to investigate suspicions that he used offshore bank accounts to conceal earnings after his low-budget "Crocodile Dundee" movie trilogy became an international hit in 1986.

However, the 70-year-old is still being pursued separately by the Australian Taxation Office over a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill.

Tax officials barred the Australian actor from returning to his Los Angeles home for two weeks earlier this year over the matter. Hogan's lawyers eventually secured a deal with the tax office that allowed him to leave the country.

How much Hogan owes has not been made public. But he said in August that he is unable to afford even 10 percent of his tax bill.

Hogan's lawyer, Andrew Robinson, said the end of the criminal investigation will give "immense relief" to his client, who had yet to be advised.

[Associated Press]

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