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Model Bar Refaeli convicted of tax evasion in Israel
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Israeli model Bar Refaeli arrives on August 29, 2019 for the screening of the film 'Ad Astra' during the 76th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido.
(AFP/Alberto Pizzoli)
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Tel Aviv court convicted Israel's most famous model Bar Refaeli of tax evasion Monday, ordering her to pay a heavy fine and serve nine months' community service.
Refaeli, who in the past dated Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, pleaded guilty to giving false statements about her periods of overseas residence in order to evade Israeli taxes.
She was fined 2.5 million shekels (US$730,000) and ordered to pay arrears, according to a transcript from the Tel Aviv magistrates court.
Israeli citizens who are not residents are exempt from reporting income from outside the country to Israel's tax authorities.
Her mother, Tzipi Refaeli, was also convicted on multiple tax charges. She will serve 16 months in prison and was ordered to pay 2.5 million shekels in addition to tax arrears.
The two had pleaded guilty in plea bargain agreements.
The ruling ends a long-running case in which Bar Refaeli was first arrested and questioned in December 2015.
The swimsuit model stirred controversy when she evaded her two years of mandatory Israeli military service by marrying a friend of her father's, only to divorce him a short while later.
She is now married to Israeli businessman Adi Ezra.
