Lack of DiCaprio evidence swayed judge's Refaeli tax ruling

Bar Refaeli and Leonardo deCaprio Photo: Reuters
Bar Refaeli and Leonardo deCaprio Photo: Reuters

Judge Samuel Bornstein: It is said that a picture is worth 1,000 words but this is not necessarily true.

Judge Samuel Bornstein of the Lod District Court wrote 61 pages to explain his ruling that Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli must pay the Israel Tax authority income tax on the tens of millions of shekels that she earned in 2009 and 2010.

Ultimately, the civil case (Refaeli and her parents must also face criminal charges subject to a hearing) revolves around whether Refaeli was domiciled in Israel in 2009 and 2010. The records show that Refaeli spent 185 days in Israel in 2009 and 131 days in Israel in 2010.

Refaeli claims that she was sharing a home with DiCaprio in the US during 2009 and 2010 and expected to build a family with him. But Judge Bornstein did not accept this version of events. "The appellant leaves a vacuum of significant evidence regarding her relationship. This is created mainly because the appellant has failed to bring evidence from Leonardo or on his behalf. The evidence that has been brought by the appellant has been brought from her subjective point of view."

Noting that he had been shown many pictures of Refaeli together with Dicaprio from her private picture albums, Judge Bornstein writes, "It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words but this is not necessarily true."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 22, 2019

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019

Bar Refaeli and Leonardo deCaprio Photo: Reuters
Bar Refaeli and Leonardo deCaprio Photo: Reuters
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