SYDNEY, Australia (August 3, 2007) — Michelle Williams’ father, a prominent stock market trader, lost a court appeal Friday against a second U.S. attempt to extradite him on tax evasion charges.
Three federal court judges dismissed the attempt by Larry Williams, 64, to stop the U.S. and New South Wales state courts from taking steps to extradite him.
Williams, a resident of the Virgin Islands, is wanted by the Internal Revenue Service on charges of willfully attempting to evade $1.5 million in taxes from 1990 to 2001.
A Sydney magistrate is now free to consider the U.S. extradition request. A hearing date has not been set.
Australian police, responding to a request from U.S. authorities, arrested Williams in May 2006 after he flew into Sydney to begin a monthlong speaking tour in Australia and New Zealand. He has been free in Sydney on $857,000 bail.
His 26-year-old daughter, Michelle, received an Oscar nomination for her performance in 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain,” playing the wife of Heath Ledger’s character.
Ledger, 28, and Williams are the parents of a daughter, Matilda, who was born in October 2005.
Copyright © 2024 by Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.