Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend Raffaello Follieri seems like he may very well be a totally skeevy jerk. Rumors about his terrible money mismanagement have been circulating for years, and he was sued several years ago by L.A. billionaire Ron Burkle, who claimed Follieri mismanaged funds meant for his charitable foundation and instead used the money to finance his lavish lifestyle with Hathaway.

Follieri settled the lawsuit earlier this year, and was then arrested for writing a bad check – for $215,000. Now that he’s gotten that little issue taken care of, New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating the children’s charity Follieri runs – for a plethora of financial misdeeds.

Cuomo’s investigators in recent weeks served subpoenas seeking financial documents from the Follieri Foundation, which is headed by Hathaway’s beau, 29-year-old Italian businessman Raffaello Follieri, the AG’s office confirmed yesterday. Cuomo’s office refused to reveal why it was eyeing the Manhattan-based charity, which says its programs include vaccinating Third World children.

Confirmation of the probe came after Cuomo’s office was asked whether it was aware that the foundation might have failed to file tax-disclosure forms required of nonprofit groups. A check of an online database that collects the “990″ IRS forms showed that the Follieri Foundation is required to file the form, yet has never done so.

Hathaway, who also starred in “The Princess Diaries,” served on the foundation’s board until at least last year, when she traveled to Central America with Follieri for a charity-funded vaccination program. “She was on the board, but is no longer,” Hathaway’s spokesman said. “I don’t remember exactly when she ceased to be a board member.” Asked whether Hathaway, 25, knew about the probe and its focus, he said, “Since she is no longer associated with the foundation, why would you expect her to be familiar with all of this?”

Follieri’s spokeswoman, Melanie Bonvicino, said, “Raffaello Follieri and his attorney, Cyrus Vance [Jr.], have been cooperating fully with the Attorney General’s Office to satisfy their routine inquiry. Furthermore, Mr. Follieri looks forward to concluding this matter in a timely and expeditious manner . . . so that he may continue to fulfill his ongoing philanthropic endeavors worldwide.”

[From the New York Post]

Given Follieri’s excessively long record of financial misdeeds, it seems perfectly likely that he’s done something illegal with his charitable foundation. He always manages to buy himself out of his troubles, which is odd because you’d think that if he had that money, he should have just done the right thing in the first place. Which makes it seem like he’s not simply bad at managing money and/or making some dumb financial choices or mistakes. It seems like he’s trying to swindle people. Follieri and Hathaway have been dating since 2004, and there are no signs that she’s wising up to this guy.

Here’s Anne Hathaway and Raffaello Follieri at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on March 13th. Images thanks to Splash.

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