Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Did Bar Refaeli Use Leonardo DiCaprio To Hide From Israeli Taxman?

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli agreed on Monday to provide prosecutors with bank details as she faces a massive tax evasion case, The Times of Israel reported.

Refaeli had previously resisted handing over the paperwork to prosecutors who suspect she hid tens of millions of dollars of income. Refaeli claimed to not have been living in Israel during that period of time, but rather to have been in the United States with then-boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio.

Israel’s tax authority was allegedly unconvinced by the supermodel’s argument, “because the couple was never married, and their relationship apparently had its ups and downs during that period, her claims of tax exemption were invalid,” The Times of Israel reported.

Additionally, United States tax authorities revealed that she was registered there as a “non-resident” during the 2009-10 time frame.

Israeli authorities found that Refaeli was in fact living in two luxury apartments in Tel Aviv, which were rented in the name of her brother and mother.

Investigators also found that Refaeli received Range Rover and Lexus vehicles, in exchange for photographing advertisements for the car companies. Contracts stated that the agreements would be kept secret. The taxable value of the cars are reportedly hundreds of thousands of shekels.

Contact Haley Cohen at [email protected]

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.