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Bar Refaeli Is Facing Charges For Tax Evasion And Money Laundering In Israel
It seems like this supermodel is in some super hot water. Back home in Israel, Bar Refaeli is facing charges of tax evasion, money laundering, and perjury — and so are her parents, Tzipi and Rafi Refaeli. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israel State’s Attorney Office gave the model a heads up on Thursday, Jan. 3 that there’d be one more hearing, and that after that she’d likely be indicted. The article explains that the investigation has been going on for over a decade, dating back to 2006, and includes a complicated lie about her ex-flame Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Israeli Tax Authority claims that she not only hid over a million dollars of income (several millions of shekels) as well as luxury items she received as compensation for publicity, but that she also lied about where her primary residence was. Though she filed taxes in the United States as a resident of Israel, she filed Israeli taxes as a United States resident from 2009-2012. She told authorities she was living with the Titanic actor during that time, but they believe she was actually based in Tel Aviv with residences in family members’ names.
Some of those family members may have been her parents. The Jerusalem Post suggests that they may also face money laundering and tax evasion charges, presumably for helping their daughter hide her income or residence. For her part, though, Bar seems to be denying the seriousness of the situation. Her attorney, Moshe Mizrahi, told Ynet, an Israeli news website, that the case had “been blown out of proportion… All of the agreements were on the table, [and] she hasn’t hidden anything.”
If the charges are filed, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think she may be in trouble with American authorities soon, too. And she’d hardly be the first celeb to go up against the IRS. In recent years, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino from Jersey Shore was sentenced to eight months after pleading guilty to tax evasion, and Nicolas Cage, Lindsay Lohan, and Martha Stewart have all had their own tax troubles.
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