PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Richard Hatch, the first winner of the hit CBS reality show “Survivor,” said Friday he thought the network was responsible for paying the taxes on his $1 million prize, and that’s why he didn’t pay them.

Hatch told AP Radio Friday in an interview from Los Angeles that he was “absolutely not guilty.”

Prosecutors in January charged the Newport resident with filing false 2000 and 2001 tax returns, omitting his income from the show, as well as another $321,000 he was paid by a Boston radio station. After Hatch backed out of a plea agreement last week, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Providence turned the case over to a grand jury. No charges are currently pending against him.

Hatch’s lawyer, Michael Minns, told AP Radio that under California law, Hatch should have been classified as an employee of CBS and therefore CBS was responsible for withholding taxes from Hatch’s winnings.

“He was under the impression that they were either going to withhold from the check or pay the tax, and apparently neither occurred,” Minns said.

Minns said the network has never explained whether Hatch’s prize was $1 million, or $1 million minus the taxes.

CBS disputed that contention in a brief, e-mailed statement.

“Richard Hatch was well aware of his obligation to pay taxes on his Survivor prize money,” the network said.

Hatch said he was unfairly targeted by the IRS and prosecutors.

“I’m being used as an example, as a scapegoat. And I’m innocent,” he said. “This is nothing more than their effort to use my notoriety to get other people to pay taxes.”

On “Survivor,” Hatch stood out for being a cunning and ruthless competitor. He said Friday that the wits he displayed on the show did not extend to tax law.

“I am bright, but I’m not an accountant or an attorney,” he said. “I’m not aware at all of the details of how to put together a complicated return. I’m just not.”

Tom Connell, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, would not comment, saying there was an open and active investigation.

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On the Net:

Richard Hatch Official Site: http://www.richhatch.com/

AP-ES-03-11-05 1614EST