The Nation - News from June 21, 1988

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a key adviser to the family of Tawana Brawley, the black Wappingers Falls, N.Y., teen-ager who says she was abducted and sexually assaulted by at least six white men in November, has not filed income tax returns for several years and is under investigation for tax evasion, according to four separate sources, Newsday reported. Sharpton acknowledged that he had not paid taxes in recent years, but said that there was no intention to defraud the government. He said that he recently directed his accountant to formally petition for a late filing for last year’s and previous years’ taxes. The sources told the New York newspaper that the case is still in its preliminary stage.