This Selfie Got a 23-Year-Old Woman Charged With Tax Evasion

Impact

There's something to be said for not flaunting your wealth. Perhaps this is what Jeane Napoles, daughter of the Janet Napoles, a Filipino businesswoman recently charged with helping members of Philippines Parliament embezzle $320 million, has come to realize.

Jeane, who is 23 years old, was already living the life. She had a $1.475 Ritz Carlton condo in L.A. and a $339,000 home in the Philippines. She was busted for tax evasion after allegedly posting a selfie in which she was bathing in cash, literally. Kim Henares, chief of the Philippines's Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), noted, "We read the newspapers. We follow the internet. That is where we heard about her." In short, "we aren't blind."

Perhaps they don't teach you to file tax returns in fashion school, where Jeane is a student. But that won't stop the BIR from citing the unemployed student's recent 54.73 million peso ($1.27 million) condo, which she purchased in 2011, and failure to produce any income tax returns, which is evidence of evasion.

There is no word on whether the money is related to her mother's embezzlement scheme. But Jeane definitely didn't just find all that cash. Heneras notes, "whether it's her fault, or her mother's fault, someone will go to jail."