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Bar Refaeli and Mother Detained, Suspected of Tax Evasion in Israel

Bar Refaeli
Bar Refaeli

A mix-up or a mess-up? Bar Refaeli and her mother, Tzipi, were detained and released on Thursday, December 17, on suspicions of tax evasion in Israel.

The 30-year-old supermodel, who currently resides in Israel with her husband, Israeli billionaire Adi Ezra, allegedly failed to report millions of dollars worth of income, as well as tens of thousands of dollars in “celebrity benefits,” according to the BBC.

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Refaeli was reportedly questioned for 12 hours on Wednesday, leading to her detainment Thursday. (Both she and her mother were released on $193,000 bail that same day, the BBC reports.)

Among the supermodel’s alleged unreported expenditures: free cars she received in exchange for giving brands publicity and a luxury apartment in Tel Aviv, where she lives.

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Bar Refaeli and her mother Tzipi Levine-Refaeli rode bicycles in New York in 2010
Bar Refaeli and her mother, Tzipi Levine-Refaeli, rode bicycles in New York in 2010.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s former flame is also being accused of trying to hide the fact that she is a resident of Israel, since nonresidents are not required to declare earnings abroad.

“There is no drama. In the end, this is just a civil dispute,” Refaeli’s lawyer Giora Aderet told the NRG news website. “No one cheated anyone else. It will all clear up soon.”

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Both Refaeli and her mother are barred from traveling abroad for six months without permission from authorities.

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