JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel’s tax authority said Thursday that international supermodel Bar Refaeli and her mother are suspected of tax evasion for allegedly not reporting millions of dollars in income earned abroad and on luxury items.
The authority said that Refaeli didn’t report the free Range Rover and Lexus cars she received from car companies in exchange for published photos of herself with the cars. It also said Refaeli did not pay taxes on a luxury apartment in Tel Aviv, where she lives.
Refaeli and her mother were briefly detained Thursday and then released. They were questioned on Wednesday in what the authority said has been a months-long investigation. The authority said that both Refaeli and her mother have been barred from travelling abroad for six months without permission from authorities.
Refaeli, the former girlfriend of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, models for brands and magazines around the world.
Giora Adereth, a lawyer for Refaeli’s mother, told Israeli Channel 10 TV that “no one here deceived anyone else.”