The Forbes global billionaires list is generally seen as a celebration of entrepreneurial success. Yet, as one looks a little deeper, deviance always manages to seep out. Currently, six members of our list are either behind bars or have been served with prison sentences, including the likes of Silvio Berlusconi, fashion’s power couple Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, and South Korea’s Chey Tae-Won. Whether the incentive is greed or an attempt to dodge the tax man, even the massively wealthy will occasionally find themselves behind bars, sometimes for a long time.  The archetypical case is Wong Kwong Yu, a Chinese electronics retailer who in 2006 was the country’s richest man and was just estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.55 billion. Now, he’s in the fourth year of a 14-year prison sentence for insider trading and bribery. Wong’s rise was as meteoric as his fall: he left school and his impoverished family behind at 14 and by his mid-30s had already attained billionaire status by founding Gome, China’s largest electronics retailer. Wong made $230 million on Shenzhen-listed Beijing Centergate Technologies, in which he was the biggest shareholder, trading ahead of major announcements through dummy accounts, a Beijing court said. As he was trying to cultivate relationships inside the government, Wong and his associates reportedly bribed five police and tax officers for $740,000 in exchange for so-called corporate favors. Wong and his wife Du Juan agreed to pay Gome $54 million in compensation for their misconduct last week.  More bizarre is the story of South Korea’s Chey Tae-Won, who was serving a four year prison sentence after his belief in the supernatural led him to embezzle nearly $50 million from the company he inherited, SK Group. Chey and his brother ran the country’s third largest industrial conglomerate, with major interests in the communications and energy sectors. Using the company’s assets as if they were his own, Chey, whose fortune is an estimated $2.5 billion, entrusted an asset manager rumored to have previously been a shaman with running his personal finances. As the asset manager’s losses mounted in the midst of the global financial crisis in 2008, Chey and his brother funneled cash from two of his companies, doubling down on the supposed fortune-teller who eventually fled to China, and then Taiwan, with a passport from Belize. Chey and his brother are behind bars, while the asset manager, Kim Won-Hong, was extradited last September.  Over in Italy, tax authorities are cracking down on supposed evasion and fraud, going after some of the country’s biggest names. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana appear as two of the most high-profile cases. The fashion power duo, each worth $1.65 billion, were sentenced to 20 months behind bars last June for allegedly hiding profits from the taxman through an offshore corporation. In what the judge called “sophisticated tax fraud,” the designers sold two of their brands to a holding company in Luxembourg named Gado, allowing them to avoid more than $570 million in taxes. While the designers are appealing, if the conviction is upheld they will be forced to fork over $470 million in fines.  Another Italian in the hot seat is former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Teflon politician no more, Berlusconi, who sports a $9 billion fortune, was expelled from the Senate last year, having been found guilty of both tax fraud and having sex with underage prostitute “Ruby the Heartstealer.” Back to tax fraud: using his personal holding company, Fininvest, Berlusconi bought the rights to major U.S. movies and TV shows through the late 80s and early 90s. Mediaset Mediaset, the country’s largest TV broadcaster, which was founded by Berlusconi and remains under his control, then bought the rights at jacked up prices, creating “black funds” that netted Il Cavaliere $375 million (€270 million) at the expense of the taxman and other shareholders. Given his age (77), Berlusconi won’t be serving time in the joint. Instead he’ll be doing community service while he awaits the results of three other cases against him for defamation, leaking of confidential wiretaps, and more bribery.  A Hong Kong billionaire, Joseph Lau, worth $8.4 billion, was just found guilty of a similar offence. Lau was guilty of paying $2.6 million (HK$20 million) to former Macau public works chief Ao Man-long in a money-for-land deal, as Forbes’ Russell Flannery reported on March 16. Lau was forced to step down as chairman and CEO of Chinese Real Estate Holdings of Hong Kong after being sentenced to prison for five years and three months. Replaced by his son Ming-wai as head of his company, Lau will probably appeal. Regardless, he probably won’t be serving any time in jail, because Hong Kong doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Macau.  It’s not all heavy time, though. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay was arrested on Sunday night on four felony counts of possession of controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Irsay, who is worth $1.6 billion, claims he doesn’t drink but has admitted to struggling with painkillers, was pulled over after driving slowly and failing to put on his turn signal. Irsay was released from jail after posting a $22,500 bond. Irsay joins other billionaires who got in trouble behind the wheel, including Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton and Jacqueline Mars, both of whom were involved in fatal car accidents and served no jail time.  Several other billionaires are facing legal issues that could land them some serious jail time. Among them is Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone. A British citizen worth $4.2 billion, Ecclestone faces legal challenges in the UK and in Germany, where he is accused of bribery and could face serious jail time. Ecclestone directly owns 5.3% of the Formula One Group companies and 8.5% through his family’s Bambino Trust. He was involved in the sale of rights to private equity group CVC Capital Partners in 2006 and is accused of bribing German investment banker Gerhard Gribkowsky with a $45 million to guarantee his bank, BayernLB, to get it to sell its stake to CVC while keeping Bernie running the show. Gribkowsky is currently serving an eight-and-a-half year prison term for accepting the bribe, while Ecclestone claims he was blackmailed by the banker who threatened to release fake information tied to his family’s finances. He is set to go on trial in Munich later this year.  In Hong Kong, Thomas and Raymond Kwok, who together have amassed a $12.6 billion fortune, have been charged with bribing a former chief secretary and conspiring to conduct misconduct. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption is going after the billionaire property tycoons for allegedly providing payments and unsecured loans worth more than $4 million to Rafael Hui, Hong Kong’s number two public official from 2000 to 2009. The trial is scheduled to start in May.
Billionaires, like anyone else, are also prone to deviant behavior, many times finding themselves behind bars.  From Italy's Silvio Berlusconi to South Korea's Chey Tae Won, here are the billionaires with serious legal trouble.