Bitten and Bound » Joe Francis

IRS Freeze Puts Joe Francis on Brink of Ruin

Missy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:07:20 +0000

Girls Gone Wild owner Joe Francis, frequently on the wrong side of the law, wants access to two of his bank accounts containing millions that the IRS has frozen.

The IRS has seized the business owner’s assets because of unpaid taxes from 2001, 2002 and 2003 to the tune of $34 million. Joe, on the other hand, claims the government has $100 million of his money tied up and is adamant that he owes the IRS nothing.

Joe’s lawyers have filed papers in federal court requesting that the ban be lifted. Francis says that the hold has putting him on the brink of financial ruin and bankruptcy.

Photo: WENN

Joe Francis May Lose His Home to Steve Wynn

Missy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:41:47 +0000

Living large may cost Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis his Bel Air Mansion. A few months back Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn filed a suit against Joe for a $2 million gambling debt that has yet to be paid back.

Wynn’s legal team is saying that if the judge honors the judgment then they will be able to go after Francis’ California assets–which include his mansion.

The debt has grown over the last two years to $2,942,272 due to the 18% interest that has been accumulating.

TMZ contacted Joe and he said, “I was told that this matter had been settled by my attorney and I’m currently looking into it.”

Photo: WENN

Joe Francis Wanted After Assaulting Brody Jenner’s Girlfriend Jayde Nicole

Andrea — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:08:34 +0000

The Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Dept. is looking for Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis after he allegedly assaulted Brody Jenner’s girlfriend Jayde Nicole at Guys and Dolls nightclub in West Hollywood.

According to Jenner, he and Jayde were celebrating his birthday at the club, when Francis began hitting on one of his ex-girlfriends. Jayde, Playboy’s 2008 Playmate of the Year, felt Francis was harassing the woman and threw a drink on him.

Francis became enraged and allegedly pulled Jayde’s hair, punched her in the face, threw her to the ground and kicked her.

A friend of Jayde’s tried to fight Francis off and he allegedly hit that girl also. Security broke up the fight and Jenner tried to grab Francis, ripping his shirt. Both men were thrown out of the nightclub.

Once outside, Jenner says he punched Francis in the face, before being tased and falling to the ground.

Police received a call at 2:46 a.m. Francis left the scene before they arrived. No one was arrested. A police report was filed and Nicole says she will press charges.

In addition to some of her hair being pulled out, Nicole’s injuries include a black and blue cheek, her face is swollen, she has a bruised left rib and her lower abdomen is sore.

Jenner posted about the incident on his Twitter page:

Joe Francis beat up my lady this morning for no reason! Pulled her to the ground, punched & kicked her..what does that say about him?

How can you call yourself a man when you beat up a girl?? Joe Francis is a piece of shit

Joe Francis needs to be in jail!!!

Francis is scheduled to stand trial in October on tax evasion charges.

View photos and video of the attack.

Related Articles:

Joe Francis Jailhouse Bribery Scheme Leads to Arrests

Missy — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:11:32 +0000

Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis was behind bars in Reno back in 2007 on charges of federal income tax evasion. A recent investigation has turned up the fact that Francis received special treatment by jailhouse employees in a bribery scheme. The revelation has caused all hell to broke loose.

Three Washoe County jail employees have been terminated and arrested for receiving gifts in exchange for favors. What favors? Longer time on the phone, protection from disciplinary action and the ability to have food brought in.

The employees are former sheriff’s Sgt Michon Mills, 39, sheriff’s Deputy Ralph Hawkins, 41, and former inmate classification specialist Mary Boxx, 54. All three have been charged with 2 counts of accepting a bribe.

The gifts were large; tickets to the Oakland Raiders games, a $4,500 Cartier watch, a $5,000 gift card to Sachs Fifth Avenue, $3,200 in cash, a big screen T.V., an entertainment system, plane tickets and the list goes on…

How was Joe able to get all of these gifts funneled to the guards? Girls Gone Wild producer Aaron Weinstein was the delivery man.

Weinstein, 45, was arrested in L.A. Friday for his part in the bribe scheme and charged with three bribery counts following a grand jury indictment in Reno on Friday. He faces up to 2 years behind bars plus a $250,000 fine if found guilty.

Oddly, Joe appears to have escaped without any additional legal ramifications, thought he is still on the hook for his income tax woes, currently out on bail while awaiting trial.

Photo: WENN

Related Articles:

‘Girls Gone Wild’ Joe Francis Back in Jail

Missy — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:33:27 +0000

It looks like Joe Francis, founder of Girls Gone Wild, has managed to tick off a judge on top of the rest of his legal woes. Francis was arrested yesterday after showing up for a court hearing five hours late.

He is accused of claiming more than $20 million in phony business expenses on his corporate tax return, including $3.8 million for his luxury home in Mexico and $10.4 million in consulting fees. Those are some hefty consultant fees and it looks like the IRS isn’t buying any of it.

Reason for being late? Francis told the judge that he had the “flu”, which apparently didn’t sit well with her honor. She ordered a U.S. marshal to cuff him and he was led away for booking.

Francis, who has already entered a plea of not guilty, is scheduled to appear for his trial on March 31st. It’s hard to say how long the judge will let him stew in the slammer but we’re guessing Joe will make every effort to show up on time for his next court appearance.

Check out a couple of Joe’s previous mugshots below. More celebrity mugshots here.

Photo: Wenn

Related Articles:

Joe Francis Slams Ashley Alexandra Dupre Over Lawsuit

Missy — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:56:24 +0000

Girls Gone Wild owner Joe Francis is not new to the lawsuit game and will set out to prove that to Eliot Spitzer’s former call girl, Ashley Alexander Dupre. Filing a $10 million lawsuit against Francis and the GGW franchise yesterday, Dupre claims Francis misrepresented her name and used her image for profit. One thing Dupre might have forgotten is that she is dealing with an ~~ex-con~~ pro.

When Joe heard the news that Dupre was launching a lawsuit against him for wrongdoing, he had this to say to Usmagazine.com:

It is incomprehensible that Ms. Dupre could claim she did not give her consent to be filmed by Girls Gone Wild, when in fact we have videotape of her giving consent, while showing her identification.”

Still looking for that 15 minutes of fame, Dupre should have considered Joe’s first offer of $1 million for a GGW photo shoot and tour. It looks like Ashley thought her goods were worth WAY more. We’re guessing she’s not going to get a dime. Joe made a really interesting comment on the matter:

She refused this offer and in fact if she’d like to reconsider, we’d be happy to discuss. She should keep in mind, it’s considerably more than the governor of New York paid her, and our activities aren’t illegal.”

We are guessing that Ashley’s singing career must not be going as planned. The former call girl should really consider Joe’s first offer. When all is said and done, she’s likely to eat crow either way.

Related Articles:

Girls Gone Wild Joe Francis is Free

Missy — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:03:16 +0000

After spending the better part of a year in jail, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis is finally free and back in LA. Joe’s first order of business was having a good meal. I guess jail food didn’t sit well with Joe.

We are not sure what came about at his latest court appearance but he has agreed to a plea deal and plans on cleaning up his legal mess. For those living under a rock, Francis was jailed for filming underage girls.

Joe promises he will never go back to Bay County, Fla. Reportedly, Francis spent his jail time working on new ideas and ways to make his empire grow.

Joe has a long list of A-list friends who are excited about his return. Expect to see lots of pictures of Joe out and about in the near future.

Related Articles:

Joe Francis Seems Like One Smart Cookie

Missy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:56:18 +0000

While you may be thinking if Joe Francis is a smart cookie then he wouldn’t be in jail, have you checked out www.meetjoefrancis.com? It is pretty impressive what someone can do behind bars. You will find anything on his site from Q & A to a photo gallery, everything you wanted to know about his legal issues and much more. After reading some of this I was a believer….Joe is either a really good writer or he is just doing what everyone else wants to do – MAKE MONEY. And let me just say this….. I am glad that Joe wasn’t around when I was younger. I am sure I would have wanted one of those t-shirts! Check out some of what Joe had to say:

Friends,

I’m excited to have this opportunity to introduce myself to you personally. Over the years, I’ve gotten used to being misunderstood. From as early as the first grade, when a teacher’s aide took offense at my efforts to get her attention by putting a tack on her chair, to more recently, when a certain Southern judge took a relentless interest in putting me behind bars, it seems that I have been in a constant struggle just to be understood as a regular guy trying to get by in life.

People have said a lot of colorful things about me, not all of which are true, and certainly not all of which are flattering. One thing I do know for sure, for example, is that I’m not a criminal. It’s been my habit to either ignore personal attacks or laugh them off. But there is just too much misinformation out there about me, and I think it’s time to set the record straight.

It seems that my chief sins have been 1) having way too much fun and 2) having discovered a way to make money doing it. I don’t apologize for what I’ve achieved in my life and how I’ve achieved it, and I’m happy to share what I’ve learned from it with you. I’ve had some pretty amazing experiences over the years – some absolutely outrageous experiences — and I’m happy to share those with you too.

Keep Reading