Model Bar Refaeli convicted of tax evasion, to serve nine months of community service
The model will pay a $1.5 mn fine on top of millions of back taxes owed to the state.
By AP | Updated:
Getty Images
The heart of the case revolves around Bar Refaeli's residence earlier this decade when she gallivanted around the world in high-profile modelling campaigns, graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and had a lengthy romantic relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL: An Israeli court convicted top model Bar Refaeli on Monday on four counts of tax offenses, capping a prolonged tax evasion case against her and her family that sullied the image of a once beloved national icon.
Refaeli entered the Tel Aviv courthouse with a white face mask to match her white blouse. She was accompanied by her father, Raffi, her mother, Zipi, and a phalanx of lawyers. The 35-year-old Refaeli and her mother confessed to offenses of evading paying taxes on income nearing $10 million.
According to a a plea bargain agreement they signed with authorities last month, Refaeli is to serve nine months of community service while her mother will be sent to prison for 16 months. The two are also ordered to pay a $1.5 million fine on top of millions of back taxes owed to the state.
The prolonged case, built around the celebrity model's worldwide income and the family's attempts to downplay her ties to Israel, damaged her well-crafted public image as an informal ambassador for the country.
Still, she remains a popular TV personality and pitch-woman whose image is ubiquitous on highway billboards throughout the country. Last year, she hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv.
Bar Refaeli entered the Tel Aviv courthouse with a white face mask to match her white blouse.
ADVERTISEMENT
The heart of the case revolves around Refaeli's residence earlier this decade when she gallivanted around the world in high-profile modeling campaigns, graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and had a lengthy romantic relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Israeli tax law determines residency primarily upon whether the person spent most of the calendar year in the country. Refaeli claimed that she hadn't and therefore did not have to declare her worldwide income in certain years.
But prosecutors rejected her claim and charged her with providing incorrect tax information. For instance, Refaeli's indictment said she earned some $7.2 million between the years 2009-2012 while claiming to reside overseas to avoid paying taxes on her income.
In previous appeals, an Israeli court ruled that Refaeli's relationship with DiCaprio did not qualify as a "family unit," and therefore she could not claim his American residence to avoid paying the full taxes she owed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Refaeli's lawyers said the plea bargain proved she hadn't intentionally evaded tax payments. Refaeli's mother, who also acted as her agent, was charged with failure to report income, avoiding paying taxes and aiding someone else in evading tax payments. The indictment said she signed leases for her daughter under the names of other family members to blur Refaeli's actual residency status and refrained from declaring her own income as her daughter's agent.
Controversies, Tax Fraud & Abdication: The Rise And Fall Of Former Spanish King Juan Carlos
1/7
When Spaniards stepped out on to their balconies last week to bang pots and pans, it wasn’t to thank health workers during the lockdown. It was to call on former king Juan Carlos to acknowledge the millions he allegedly received from Saudi Arabia, and asking him to donate it to the Spanish healthcare system.
It was the latest twist in a scandal that has seen Juan Carlos — the man credited to have overseen Spain’s peaceful transition from a dictatorship to a democracy — being stripped of his allowance amid calls that the monarchy be abolished altogether.
When Spaniards stepped out on to their balconies last week to bang pots and pans, it wasn’t to thank health workers during the lockdown. It was to call on former king Juan Carlos to acknowledge the m..
Read More
Juan Carlos became king of Spain in November 1975, two days after dictator General Franco’s death. But if Franco had expected Juan Carlos to continue his autocratic legacy, it went in the opposite direction altogether. The new king established a democracy, and within three years of taking charge, approved the Constitution. In 1981, there was an attempted coup d’etat in his name, where parliamentarians were held hostage for 18 hours. King Juan Carlos denounced this, following which the hostage takers surrendered.
By the turn of the century, Juan Carlos’s popularity had soared to a point that one survey named him the most popular leader in the entire Spanish-speaking world.
Juan Carlos became king of Spain in November 1975, two days after dictator General Franco’s death. But if Franco had expected Juan Carlos to continue his autocratic legacy, it went in the opposite di..
Read More
However, a flailing economy and a series of scandals meant the royal family’s popularity plunged to its lowest level since the monarchy’s restoration. The first of these came during an elephant hunting trip to Botswana, in 2012. The cost of the entire trip was estimated to be at about 44,000 euros, twice the average annual salary in Spain at the time. In addition, he was, ironically enough, the honorary president of the Spanish branch of the WWF. To defuse the situation, he apologised publicly.
(In pic: File photo of Former King of Spain, Juan Carlos I of Spain, and Sofia of Spain attend a ceremony to celebrate Carlos's 80th birthday, in January 2018 in Madrid, Spain.
However, a flailing economy and a series of scandals meant the royal family’s popularity plunged to its lowest level since the monarchy’s restoration. The first of these came during an elephant hunti..
Read More
The Spanish economic downturn meant unemployment was between 23 and 50 per cent. It resulted in near-unprecedented scrutiny of the royal family and its exorbitant lifestyle. While Spain cut costs on civil services and healthcare, taxpayers continued to fund the royal family, prompting politicians and the media to turn on the king.
The Spanish economic downturn meant unemployment was between 23 and 50 per cent. It resulted in near-unprecedented scrutiny of the royal family and its exorbitant lifestyle. While Spain cut costs on ..
Read More
Amid all this, Princess Cristina (inset), Juan Carlos’s younger daughter, was charged with tax fraud and money-laundering. Her husband, former Olympian Inaki Urdangarin, was also charged with fraud, tax evasion, falsifying documents and embezzlement of six million euros in public funds through his charitable foundation. By the turn of 2014, Cristina became the first modern Spanish royal to face court prosecution.
In pic: (L-R) Former Queen of Spain Sofia, former King of Spain Juan Carlos I and Spain's Princess Leonor; Princess Cristina (inset)
Amid all this, Princess Cristina (inset), Juan Carlos’s younger daughter, was charged with tax fraud and money-laundering. Her husband, former Olympian Inaki Urdangarin, was also charged with fraud, ..
Read More
Juan Carlos (R) formally abdicated his throne in 2014, paving the way for his son, Felipe (L), to become king. However, despite stepping away from public life, he continued to receive an annual stipend of 194,000 euros.
(Image: AFP)
Juan Carlos (R) formally abdicated his throne in 2014, paving the way for his son, Felipe (L), to become king. However, despite stepping away from public life, he continued to receive an annual stipe..
Read More
A report in La Tribune de Geneve newspaper said that Juan Carlos, who was king at the time, allegedly received $100 million from Saudi Arabia in 2014. It added that he gave $65 million to Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, a German aristocrat who had earlier said she had an “intimate friendship” with the king. Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reported that Felipe too was named a beneficiary of the Lucum Foundation fund upon his father’s death, as well as that of another fund, Zagatka. Responding to this, Felipe said he had told his father that he did not want to be a beneficiary. Moving swiftly, Felipe renounced any future personal inheritance from his father, and also stripped Juan Carlos of his retirement allowance.
(Image: Reuters)
A report in La Tribune de Geneve newspaper said that Juan Carlos, who was king at the time, allegedly received $100 million from Saudi Arabia in 2014. It added that he gave $65 million to Corinna zu ..
