R&B singer Ronald Isley is in tax trouble again. Isley has been indicted for evading taxes from 1997 to 2002 by allegedly depositing his dead brother's royalty checks, buying personal cars using a business account and using cash to keep payments to band members off the books, authorities said Thursday.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment Wednesday afternoon, the Internal Revenue Service said in a statement.

Isley, 63, is charged with five counts of tax evasion and one count of failing to file an income tax return.

The IRS said the singer, who has homes in Los Angeles and St. Louis, deposited royalty checks for his own use that had been issued to other members of the Isley Brothers, including his dead brother, O'Kelly.

He also required that half of his guaranteed tour fees be paid in cash on the day of each performance. He then paid musicians in cash, according to the indictment.

Isley failed to pay taxes numerous times in the past three decades and declared bankruptcy after the IRS seized his yacht, cars and other property in 1997. He was out of bankruptcy four years later, but then allegedly did not file tax returns for the years 1997 to 2001 and in 2002 did not sign his return and failed to pay taxes due.

Isley's latest albums, released last year, were a collaboration with Burt Bacharach titled "Here I Am" and the Grammy-nominated Isley Brothers CD "Body Kiss."