ISRAEL. (THECOUNT) — Israel’s State Prosecutor’s Office has notified supermodel Bar Refaeli, and her parents, that they are seriously considering prosecuting them for tax offenses, including money laundering, subject to a hearing.
Refaeli, who was born into an Israeli Jewish family in Israel, has three brothers. Her parents, Rafael and Tzipi Refaeli, own a horse ranch. Her mother was a successful Israeli model in the 1970s under her maiden name, Tzipi Levine.
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Bar Refaeli is suspected of filing tax reports stating that she did not reside in Israel, and which did not include income from her work outside of Israel, according to Israel News.
A compromise agreement was signed in 2009 under which tax would be paid on all of Bar Refaeli’s income in both Israel and overseas in 2005-2007. It is alleged that Bar and Tzipi concealed NIS 6 million in income in the framework of this agreement.
Tsipi and Rafael Rafaeli are also suspected of money laundering. In total, the international supermodel is suspected of concealing NIS 29 million in income.
Bar Refaeli later founded companies overseas and opened overseas bank accounts in which she deposited her income. The suspects filed tax returns and statements of capital that Bar Refaeli had no income in Israel and did not reside in Israel. The suspects allegedly gave the tax assessor false information and concealed relevant information in assessment discussions in 2009-2012 in order to cover up Bar Refaeli’s connection with Israel. At the same time, Bar Refaeli made representations to the US tax authorities in which she stated that she lived in Israel, not the US. source
Bar and Tzipi are also accused of making foreign currency deals that generated millions of shekels in income without making the legally required reports on it, as well as Bar Refaeli’s income from rent and the use of luxury vehicles in exchange for advertising and public relations. Tsipi and Rafaeli Refaeli also allegedly committed money laundering offenses by declaring that they were the beneficiaries of accounts whose actually beneficiary was Bar Refaeli.
The suspects have the legal right to a hearing at the taxation and economic section of State Prosecutor’s Office before it is decided whether to file an indictment against them.
The taxation and economic section of State Prosecutor’s Office is handling the case. The investigation was conducted by the investigative tax assessment official for Tel Aviv in the Tax Authority, according to sources.
Developing.