Israeli model Bar Refaeli and her mother were convicted on Monday of tax evasion agreements. The two had admitted a number of tax offenses before a Tel Aviv court, Israeli media reported. The two women had signed an agreement with the authorities last month to settle the longstanding process.
The deal stipulated that the 35-year-old Refaeli would have to provide social services for nine months while her mother Zipi would go to prison for 16 months. You also have to pay a total of 5 million shekels (just under 1.3 million euros). Israeli television reported that the mother wanted to seek pardon immediately for an illness.
The tax authority had accused Refaeli of failing to fully disclose multi-million dollar earnings in Israel and abroad. At the beginning of 2019, a court had ruled that the model had to pay the equivalent of around 2 million euros in taxes. Contrary to what Refaeli stated, the focus of her life in the controversial tax years has been in Israel since 2009, the court said.
Refaeli achieved her breakthrough in 2007 when she was the first Israeli model to adorn the coveted front page of the "Sports Illustrated" magazine. Also because of her relationship with the actor Leonardo DiCaprio, recordings of her regularly filled the gossip columns. The couple separated in 2011. Refaeli has three million followers on the social network Instagram.
