“Survivor” Winner Richard Hatch Accused of Violating Probation

Richard Hatch, the cunning mastermind who won $1 million on the first season of "Survivor," then went to prison for not paying taxes on his prize, is in trouble again.

Hatch is accused of violating probation on his tax-evasion sentence. He is scheduled to appear next week in federal court in Rhode Island to answer charges he violated the terms of his three-year probation, which began after he got out of prison last year.

The complaint is not public, and the nature of the violation was not clear. Hatch was required to refile tax returns and pay back taxes. He has maintained he doesn't owe taxes, telling The Providence Journal last month that the Internal Revenue Service had given him two refund checks, saying that was proof he owed nothing.

“I think it’s unequivocal proof that I don’t owe anything, nor have I ever owed anything beyond what I paid already when I originally filed in 2000 and 2001,” Hatch says. “There may come a day when the IRS completes its assessment, which it has not yet done in what, eight years now?”

Hatch, now 49, won the show's top prize in 2000, when the show was filmed in Borneo. The openly gay reality  says he plans to compete on the next season of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice."

Selected Reading: The Associated Press, Providence Journal, People.

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