Paul Hogan

Paul Hogan, the unforgettable lead of the trilogy “Crocodile Dundee”, has been barred from leaving outside Australia because of a controversial tax bill as reported by the lawyer of Paul on Thursday. The actor who’s 70 year old and maintains a residence in Los Angeles has been a famous face in the US since his cheeky offer to “slip an extra shrimp on the barbie” featured in Australian tourism TV ads somewhere around the middle of 80s.

The star who had arrived in Australia only last week to visit the funeral of his mother, Florence in Sydney has been effectively ordered not to set foot outside Australian soil until he settles the tax bill in his name running up to many million dollars. Australian taxation Office officially served him notice to this effect last Friday. “These may not be the appropriate circumstances to effectively make Paul a prisoner of Australia,” his lawyer, Andrew Robinson expressed on Australian broadcasting corporation radio.

Robinson further reiterated that this order was specifically difficult for the wife of Paul, Linda Kozlowski, his co-star in “Crocodile Dundee” and their son Chance who’s merely 12 years of age. Both have been stranded without Paul in Los Angeles. The fight between Australian Tax officials and crime detectors had carried on for a good 5 years in a legal wrangle that was probed both in Australian as well as US courts. They had alleged that Hogan had made use of Offshore bank accounts to hide his earnings from the low budget “Crocodile Dundee”, which went on to achieve international fame in the year 1986.

Tax officials have put a whopping 38 million Australian dollar tax bill on Hogan based on hitherto unidentified income source. The exact bill has not yet been furnished but these were the claims of the tax authorities prior to this month. Hogan in his defence pleads innocence and denies the charges of tax evasion. The Australian Tax office denied commenting on the state of affairs due to a rigid policy underlining the need to abstain from giving any views regarding individual cases.

Robinson informed that the lawyers are involved in extensive negotiations with the Australian tax authorities to revoke the order. “Those discussions are ongoing. We are hoping that they will result in an arrangement that will allow him to go back to his wife and son,” Robinson declared without describing anything further.