Castroneves’ father testifies in tax case

UPDATE Helio Castroneves Sr., 61, said Seven Promotions was created by himself and a Brazilian lawyer to promote his son's image and as a vehicle to pay the elder Castroneves for his work. The father said his son had no ownership or control over the company, even though the driver's 1999 contract with Penske Racing and other documents indicate he did own it.

"It's a mistake," said the father, testifying in Portuguese. "No, he's not the owner."

Prosecutors say Castroneves secretly controlled Seven and should have paid taxes on $5 million in the Penske deal.

Defense attorneys counter that if the younger Castroneves didn't own Seven, he doesn't owe any U.S. taxes.

The elder Castroneves said he kept some of that money as repayment for more than $1.5 million he had spent on his son's racing career beginning with go-kart circuits in the 1980s.

"It was to pay part of the investment that I had put on him since he was young," he said. Indy Star

04/03/09 Helio Castroneves' father says he was the one who set up a Panamanian company that prosecutors contend was used to dodge taxes. Establishing who controlled Seven Promotions is a key issue in the driver's Miami tax evasion trial. Prosecutors say Castroneves secretly ran the company involved in managing his income and is therefore liable for more taxes than he paid.

But Helio Castroneves Sr. testified Friday that he set up Seven Promotions. Defense lawyers have said that because the father set up the company, the driver was paying the proper amount in taxes.

The defense is expected to rest Monday in the five-week-old trial. Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and "Dancing With The Stars" champ, faces more than six years in prison if convicted. IndyStar