George Floyd murder suspect charged with tax evasion

The former Minneapolis police officer accused of murdering African-American man George Floyd has been charged with multiple felony counts of tax evasion.

Chauvin and his wife are accused of failing to report income from various jobs, and allegedly owe nearly USD 38,000 to the state of Minnesota.

The officer was filmed pressing his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes before he died in May.

It sparked global protests and calls for police reform.

Chauvin was fired from his job and now faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other officers were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting murder.

Chauvin and his estranged wife, Kellie Chauvin, were each charged in Washington County on Wednesday with six counts of aiding and abetting filing false or fraudulent tax returns and three counts of aiding and abetting failing to file state tax returns.

They are accused of underreporting their joint income by USD 464,433 from 2014 to 2019. This includes money Chauvin made doing off-duty security work and weekend shifts at a restaurant.

Prosecutor Imran Ali told the Associated Press news agency that the amount of unpaid taxes could increase as investigations continue.

Chauvin is already in jail in connection with Floyd's death but Chauvin's wife is not in custody. The Laos-born former Mrs Minnesota winner filed for divorce following Floyd's death.

In a statement, County Attorney Pete Orput said failure to file and pay taxes was "taking money from the pockets of citizens of Minnesota."

"Whether you are a prosecutor or police officer, or you are a doctor or a realtor, no one is above the law," he said.

(Source: BBC)