'Crocodile Dundee' Hunts Missing Millions

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan has taken legal action in a US court to recover \$34m (£22m) held in a Swiss bank account, which he alleges has been misappropriated.

According to reports, the Australian, who was catapulted to stardom by the 1986 film about the knife-wielding crocodile hunter, says his once-trusted tax adviser has disappeared with the cash.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Californian district court documents allege Philip Egglishaw "absconded with or spent all" of Hogan's millions.

The money was held at the Corner Bank in Lausanne, run by the Geneva firm Strachans, which was retained to arrange a series of offshore trusts for his lucrative Crocodile Dundee earnings, The Australian newspaper said.

Egglishaw was a partner at the firm.

Last year Hogan confidentially settled an eight-year long dispute with the Australian Tax Office allegedly worth millions of dollars.

The authorities had been pursuing him for more than Aus\$150m (£100m) in allegedly unpaid taxes, penalties and interest stretching back to the 1980s.

Egglishaw was reportedly the mastermind behind the tax evasion scheme and an arrest warrant is current against him relating to these charges.

Hogan's US lawyer, Craig Emanuel, said: "For a variety of ethical reasons, I am not available to comment on your enquiries."

The actor's Australian lawyer, Andrew Robinson, also declined to comment on the case.