The model suspected of evading millions of shekels in taxes is Bar Refaeli. Her mother, Tzipi Refaeli, is also a suspect. They were released after each deposited NIS 250,000 bail and a NIS 500,000 personal guarantee. They deny the suspicions, asserting that a celebrity discount is a civil issue. Bar Refaeli and her mother had to surrender their passports, and are barred from leaving the country.
Following an 11-hour interrogation yesterday that lasted almost until midnight and two hours today in the Israel Tax Authority offices, the model was officially arrested.
Bar Refaeli's lawyers and Tax Authority representatives appeared at the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court today for a hearing on her release under restricting conditions. Bar Refaeli herself asked to be excused from appearing at the hearing (a possibility provided for in the law in the case of a hearing on release from arrest). The Tax Authority agreed to the request.
Reports in various media today indicate that some of the suspicions concern unreported income from her activity in Instagram and celebrity discounts that she received, among other things on the purchase of a luxury apartment.
Sources inform "Globes," however, that the suspicions involve primarily the model's income from overseas business amounting to millions of shekels. The sources add that disputes between the Tax Authority and Bar Refaeli emerged in 2008 and 2009 concerning her overseas income, and the model consulted a number of recognized tax experts concerning her tax liability.
A tax expert told "Globes" that Bar Refaeli had asked for a professional opinion stating that she was not a resident of Israel at the time, and was therefore not liable for tax on her overseas income. The expert claimed that according to the figures she provided to him, he could not provide such an opinion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 17, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015