Anne Hathaway's ex-beau arrested on fraud charges

Washington, June 25 : Anne Hathaway's former boyfriend Raffaello Follieri has been arrested on suspicion of wire fraud and money laundering - charges that could lead him to face as much as 20 years in prison.

The United States Attorney's Office said that Follieri got millions of dollars in investment money from a private equity firm based on his misrepresentations that he had close connections with the Vatican that enabled him to buy the Catholic Church's unwanted U.S. real estate properties at a discount, reports Usmagazine.com.

Instead, Follieri used the investors' money for expensive clothes and restaurant meals, a 37,000 dollars-a-month Manhattan apartment, dog-walking services and other personal expenditures including medical expenses for his girlfriend at the time, according to the complaint.

The 29-year-old has been charged with six counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The wire fraud charges could result in life term and a 1.5 million dollars charge.

Follieri is also under investigation by the New York State Attorney General's office for failing to file tax-disclosure forms for his charity, the Follieri Foundation.

ANI