Another Ref Charged With Tax Evasion

July 7, 1998 / 3:22 AM EDT / AP

The federal government on Monday charged NBA referee Ronald F. Olesiak with three counts of filing false income tax returns.

Olesiak, 50, of Antioch, Ill., was accused of downgrading first-class airline tickets paid for by the league, pocketing the resulting refund and not reporting it as taxable income.

Federal officials in Chicago said that at least four other National Basketball Association referees living around the country have been charged in similar tax cases.

They said the National Association of Basketball Referees' contract requires the NBA to pay for first-class seats on flights of two hours or more. The contract also lets referees downgrade their tickets and keep the price difference for personal use.

"The right to downgrade airline tickets was a major employment inducement by which potential NBA referees were told that they could supplement their salaries," the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.

"Excess reimbursement from downgrading was required to be reported as income on the employee's individual tax return."

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said the league provided the referees with ample information about their tax obligations under the system.

A call to Olesiak's home on Monday was answered by a machine. His attorney's name was not learned immediately.

Federal officials said Olesiak reported $281,984 of income for 1991-93 but failed to report an additional $65,349 he got over those three years by downgrading his airline seats.