Washington ? Wesley Snipes, whose flash-and-dash style of acting carried him from the streets of the South Bronx to movie stardom, has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and tax fraud, federal officials announced Tuesday.

Snipes, 44, was also charged with six counts of failing to file income tax returns. If convicted of all of the charges, he could be sentenced to as much as 16 years in prison.

Snipes’ whereabouts could not be determined, said Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

“We made an attempt to contact him through his attorneys and now with the news conference,” Cole said in a telephone interview. “Maybe he’ll find out from the media and turn himself in.” The indictment is the latest reversal for the star whose diverse career starring in action, comedic and dramatic roles dazzled fans for more than 20 years.

From his success in the 1986 football film “Wildcats” to a drug lord in “New Jack City” to a sports hustler in “White Men Can’t Jump” to his superhero turn in the “Blade” movies, Snipes has been a stellar fixture on the screen.

But Snipes’ off-screen personal and financial difficulties have mounted in recent years. His Florida mansion was in foreclosure, his former agency sued to collect an overdue debt and an admitted former crack addict took him to court in a paternity case that the star eventually won after reams of bad publicity.

Paul Perez, at podium, U.S. attorney for the middle district of Florida, stands with Michael Yasofsky Jr., special agent in charge of the Tampa field office of the Internal Revenue Service, during a news conference announcing the unsealing of an eight-count indictment against actor Wesley Snipes. Snipes and two other men were charged Tuesday with conspiracy to defraud the IRS and presenting a fraudulent claim for payment to the IRS.

Tuesday’s indictment accuses Snipes, formerly of Windermere, Fla., Eddie Ray Kahn, of Sorrento, Fla., and Douglas P. Rosile, of Venice, Fla., with conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and presenting a fraudulent claim for payment to the IRS.

According to the indictment released by the Justice Department, Kahn was the founder and leader of American Rights Litigators and its successor, Guiding Light of God Ministries. The businesses sold fraudulent tax schemes, authorities said in a statement.

Rosile was identified as a former accountant who continued to work after his CPA licenses were revoked in Ohio and Florida. He allegedly prepared fraudulent tax returns for American Rights Litigators, which charged its members a fee, half of which it allegedly paid to Rosile. In addition, ARL would collect 20 percent of any refund and half of that went to Rosile.

Snipes, Kahn and Rosile are accused of making it appear that Snipes had no liability for federal income taxes.

According to authorities, the claim is known as an “861 argument,” which asserts that U.S. citizens and residents can be taxed only on income derived from certain foreign-based activities and not on income earned within the United States – a position that has been rejected by the courts.

The defendants filed two amended federal income tax returns for Snipes, claiming almost $12 million in refunds from 1996 and 1997 income taxes. The indictment also accuses Snipes of failing to file his 1999 through 2004 federal income tax returns.