I’ve been wanting to talk about this stuff for DAYS but we’ve only just gotten these new photos of Anne Hathaway, so I’m using them as an excuse to discuss all things Raffaello Follieri. First, these are new photos of Anne and her fiancé Adam Shulman at LAX, heading onto a flight to NYC, then arriving in NYC the same day (yesterday). Anne’s newly-shorn hair is definitely looking a bit better. I think she might even be rocking a slight faux-hawk in some of these pics, which… would be an awesome look for her. She chopped it off for Les Miserables, and I think it’s going to be a bitch for her to grow back. I’m predicting some really awkward stages.

Anyway, I find the timing of these photos very interesting. Anne was in England filming for months. Then she went to Miami. Then she went to LA. It was almost like she was avoiding the northeastern seaboard like the plague. So what was going on? Well, her ex-fiancé Raffaello Follieri was just released from jail yesterday. Remember him? The Vati-CON scandal? Annie was engaged to a con man who grifted millions of dollars from several very prominent, important people under the auspices of some Vatican land scheme – when in truth he was just financing his glitzy lifestyle with Anne. Follieri has been in federal prison (in Pennsylvania) since 2008, and he was just released this week. He was immediately deported to Italy:

Anne Hathaway’s con-man ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri is about to be released from jail after serving nearly four years — and faces deportation back to Italy, Page Six can reveal. Follieri was jailed for 4 1/2 years in October 2008 after he pleaded guilty to 14 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. Follieri is due out [Thursday] and will be handed over to federal officials to arrange his deportation.

A spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told The Post’s Bruce Golding: “It is anticipated that Mr. Follieri will enter ICE custody for removal after his release . . . ICE does not discuss removal plans with the public due to privacy and safety concerns.”

Follieri and Hathaway dated for four years but split in June 2008 just before his arrest. She is now engaged to Adam Shulman.

Follieri’s spokesperson and friend Melanie A. Bonvicino told us, “After my visit with Raffaello last week in Loretto federal prison, where he has for the past 48 months focused solely on his education, charitable endeavors and physical transformation, it is my understanding from counsel, that he is indeed to be transferred into the custody of ICE for immediate processing and subsequent deportation back to Italy where he is expected to be released into the care of his family.”

She added Follieri, “Expects to resume his role at the helm of the Follieri Group.”

[From Page Six]

Er… Follieri expects to return to The Follieri Group? Poor guy. I mean, he’s a con artist and he stole money and it was one of the most interesting confidence schemes of the past ten years or so, but still. I feel like he’s probably pretty delusional – like he conned himself too. I wonder what Anne thinks about all of this? I would imagine that the prosecutors or somebody gave her a heads up a few weeks before everything went down. It’s always interesting to remember this backstory with Anne – and how in the world did she manage to come out of it unscathed?

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

I think that at this point, most people have forgotten that Anne Hathaway had a four-year relationship with an Italian con artist who bilked some of the most powerful men in America and Europe out of millions of dollars. Anne hasn’t really been asked about Raffaello Follieri in a while (she dumped him in June 2008, just before he was arrested), although she’s said some indirect things about him in some recent interviews. It seems that most people didn’t want to believe that Anne was in any way involved in Raffaello’s white-collar crimes, and she was largely given a pass by the media, by Hollywood and by her fans. Once he pleaded guilty and was sent to jail, Raffaello did maintain that Anne had nothing to do with his schemes directly, but he did blame Anne and the Hollywood crowd for giving him unreasonable aspirations, a motive to lie, steal and cheat people out of millions of dollars.

Anyway, the Enquirer has an interesting story about Anne and Raffaello – according to sources, they’re still talking. And he’s due to get out of jail next year!

Even though Anne Hathaway has a hot new romance, she is still in touch with jailed ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, who was convicted of money-laundering and wire fraud, and who is currently serving a four-year prison sentence.

“The two have been exchanging letters, and Raffaello has even been giving business and career advice to Anne from behind bars,” revealed an insider.

Anne is dating Adam Shulman, 30, but she still has deep feelings for the convicted fraudster, says sources.

“She’s never stopped caring for him and still respects him,” confided the insider. “Anne is very much with Adam, but that hasn’t stopped her reconnected with Raffaello.”

Friends are now urging her to stay away from Follieri, who will likely be released next year. A source noted: “It’s obvious Anne still has warm feelings for him. As much as she loves Adam, Anne will always have a strong connection to Raffaello.”

[From The Enquirer, print edition]

I hope this isn’t true, but you never know. If you’re interested, you should totally go back and read the Vanity Fair piece about the scandal – there are lots of interesting details about Anne and Follieri’s “passionate” relationship, including accusations that Anne was, at the time, a massive drama queen. When she dumped him, she did it over the phone and her breakup line was: “You were the love of my life. I’ll always love you. You know that, baby.” If Anne is truly that much of a drama queen, I do believe she would stay in contact with Follieri, just for the excitement.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Throughout the 2009 awards season, I was somewhat amazed at how well Anne Hathaway had rebounded after her disastrous relationship with her con artist, fraud and thief boyfriend Raffaello Follieri. Not only was she nominated for every major award last year, but after Follieri was charged and put in jail, no one really asked Anne about it. Anne certainly behaved with class during the situation, and at some point last year, she began dating a very low-key dude named Adam Shulman. Did I say “low-key”? I meant “art thief”. Yes, Anne’s new boyfriend might be as much of a criminal as Follieri. Except not really – Shulman is just being accused of stealing a part of an outdoor mural in NYC, not of bilking millions of dollars from some of the most influential people in the world. Here’s more:

Can’t Anne Hathaway — one of Hollywood’s most angelic and seemingly nice young actresses — just find a guy without some sort of criminal implications?

The ‘Alice in Wonderland’ starlet is stuck in the middle of more headlines thanks to a significant other, as her new boyfriend Adam Shulman allegedly took off with part of a painted mural. Unfortunately for Shulman, someone else claims the mural is his property, and is going to press charges unless it’s returned.

According to the New York Post, H&H Builders president Ken Hart claims the artwork painted by infamous New York City street artist Mr. Brainwash was taken from him by Mr. Shulman, but in true forgive-and-forget fashion, promises that “if he brings me back the art, it’s over … But if he doesn’t, I’m going to the police to report it stolen!”

For Hathaway, this must be a blatant reminder of her romantic woes past. She previously was in a long-term relationship with Raffaello Follieri, who is currently serving jail time after he pled guilty to fraud charges. Follieri was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for bilking investors out of nearly $4 million in a real estate scam.

Just how did he scam all that money? Follieri told his investors that because he had ties to the Vatican, he could easily secure church property for well below market value.

Hathaway has kept mostly mum about Follieri since splitting with him months before his sentencing. She did reference him in an Independent interview, saying: “The worst thing that happens to you can be the best thing for you, if you don’t let it get the best of you.”

She even joked about her dating record while on ‘The Late Show With David Letterman.’ After being grilled by Dave about Follieri, Hathaway joked: “You do have to give me credit because as far as relationships crashing and burning goes, c’mon, I did pretty great. I mean, scorched that earth!”

Here’s wishing Miss Hathaway a happy and drama free future with whoever her man of choice is.

[From PopEater]

It sounds more like a prank or a shenanigan rather than an art heist. Although if it was taken from private property, I guess Adam should have known better? Anyway, Shulman should return the mural and all will be forgiven. Even if he doesn’t, he’s still got a way to go before he’s a Follieri-type con artist/criminal mastermind.

It seems that Anne Hathaway might have some kind of loser magnet attached to her, because her latest boyfriend actor Adam Schulman is described as being an ‘opportunist’. At least he isn’t faking links with the Vatican.

Hathaway said at the time(of Raffaello Follieri’s sentencing) of her then-unknown new flame, “You know when you don’t know someone very well — you just meet them and you’re like, ‘Wow, you really have it going on’?”

But according to a source at the New York Post, 27-year-old Shulman could be the wrong man for the actress, adding: “Adam is known as an opportunist. When he was at Brown (University), he went after all the heiresses. It’s like Anne is addicted to losers.”

A spokesperson for Shulman has declined to comment.

San Francisco Chronicle

Adam was the one to first reveal their relationship to Life and Style magazine, dropping ‘we’ into the conversation like a toilet training mother. Oh, that’s me. Anne has made no particular statement about the relationship, beyond saying that she is seeing a ‘sexy guy’.

Maybe she’s just one of those women who are nice to everyone. After all, she has a successful career, she’s beautiful, young, and gets gorgeous free clothes to hang off her attractive physique. What’s not to be nice about? What Anne clearly needs is a girlfriend who tells her the truth. You know the kind – she’ll tell you if your butt looks big in that, if getting your nose pierced is the right look for you, and that your boyfriend is a loser.

Convicted felon Raffaelo Follieri doesn’t like life behind bars. The former high roller is so appalled by the conditions in prison, it’s making him sick- literally. His lawyer has written a letter to the court asking that he be moved to a prison with better conditions. All together now: “Boo hoo.” Seriously, though, this prison sounds completely disgusting and it’s no wonder a delicate metrosexual flower like Raffy boy is sick.

Raffaello Follieri, the Italian businessman who dated actress Anne Hathaway, says his health has deteriorated because of “unspeakably unsanitary” jail conditions and wants to be moved.

Follieri, 30, once enjoyed a lavish globe-trotting lifestyle and dated Hathaway for four years before he was arrested in June for lying about ties to the Vatican for a real estate scheme.

Since he was sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison for fraud last month, he has had to contend with rotten food, foul odors and unclean toilets and as result is running a fever and has blood in his urine, according to a letter from his lawyer made available on Wednesday.

“He says that he cannot eat because the food appears to be spoiled and that the toilet and shower facilities are unspeakably unsanitary,” the letter from Flora Edwards said.

“There is excrement in the shower and rats are roaming freely in the area. He says the stench is intolerable,” the letter continued.

Follieri has been held in a windowless dormitory with 120 other men. Edwards requested he be moved to a different jail while awaiting transfer to a prison.

Follieri pleaded guilty last month to profiting $2.4 million from a scheme that exaggerated Vatican ties to mislead investors, including California supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle, into thinking he could buy the Catholic Church’s real estate at cheaper prices.

[From Reuters]

Where the heck is he doing time – Oz? It sounds horrible – but I guess if prison was nice, it wouldn’t be much of a punishment. If you recall, Follieri begged prosecutors to allow him to serve his time in Italy instead of America. Maybe the prisons there have luxury spas and gourmet Italian food. I haven’t been able to find which Federal prison he’s shacked up in. Sources said at the time of his sentencing that he’d be shipped off to either Fort Dix in New Jersey or Otisville in upstate New York, but no more information has been published since then. My question is: does this ever work? Do people get released from prison because they get sick? If so, everyone on maximum security should get to work on getting some blood in their urine.

Raffaelo Follieri is pictured above in better days with his ex girlfriend, Anne Hathaway, at the Academy Awards. I’m sure the conditions at the Kodak Theater were much nicer. Photo credit: WENN.

Poor Raffaello Follieri. The guy really has had a super hard life. First he somehow got Anne Hathaway to date him. Then, fearing he didn’t have enough money to keep her interested, he tricked a lot of unknowing investors into giving him millions of their money, which he used for necessary purchases like yachts and jewelry. Now Follieri is arguing that he shouldn’t have to do as much jail time as he originally agreed to because his crimes were really the fault of all the rich people around him.

The lawyer for conman Raffaello Follieri begged a judge Tuesday to go easy on Anne Hathaway’s ex, vowing the scamster will return to Italy, never to be heard from again.

Flora Edwards blamed the 30-year-old entrepreneur’s downfall on his zest for the Hollywood lifestyle, complete with starlet girlfriend Hathaway at his side, while he crisscrossed the globe in private jets.

“He was surrounded by movie stars and celebrities and this young man who neither drinks nor smokes was intoxicated with it all,” Edwards wrote in a letter sent to Judge John Koeltl, who will sentence Follieri on Oct. 23.

“Unfortunately, he lacked the resources to maintain the opulent lifestyle of his new friends. Even more unfortunately, he had almost unfettered access to hundreds of thousands of dollars with few controls on his spending ability, until it was too late.”

Follieri pleaded guilty last month to swindling investors out of $2.4 million by overstating his ties to Vatican insiders willing to steer him sweetheart deals on church properties in the U.S.

[From the Daily News]

Stupid Anne Hathway for getting poor Raffaello Follieri into this mess. Clearly all he was trying to do was take care of her and provide her with the essentials. I mean it’s not like she’s probably got some money of her own. And she might have died without all those diamond baubles! He saved lives!

The funniest part of the whole brief is that his lawyer actually says, “‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,’” according to TMZ. I know this is generally frowned upon, but if I were the judge I’d lock that lawyer up for using such a bad cliché. Everyone knows the road to hell is paved with money and sexy ex-girlfriends.

Here’s Anne Hathaway at Elle’s “Women in Hollywood Event” at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on October 6th. Images thanks to WENN. Header from when Hathaway and Follieri were still together. Image thanks to Bauer-Griffin.

Anne Hathaway has steadfastly refused to talk about ex-boyfriend and current jailbird Raffaello Follieri; however she’s slowly starting to open up about their relationship. A tiny bit. Hathaway isn’t really giving away any new information, but she doesn’t have handlers rushing in to shoo away any reporter that dares to ask. Last night David Letterman grilled her (well, Letterman style, so it wasn’t exactly the toughest grilling) about their relationship, and though Anne seemed a bit uncomfortable she managed to make some jokes. And generally stuck to the theme of “I don’t know, I’m not following his life anymore.”

Asked if there were hints about his ways, the actress, who split with Follieri in June after four years of dating, quipped: “I don’t want to go into the specifics but I will say that you do have to give me credit because as far as relationships crashing and burning goes, c’mon, I did pretty great. I mean, scorched that earth… I’m an all or nothing sort of girl,” she added.

“Go big or go home,” Letterman replied Staying on the subject, Letterman said the ordeal was “pretty unusual.”

“That’s definitely one of the words that, yeah,” Hathaway said. “Do you want to know his shoe size too?

Letterman then asked if Follieri will be in jail for a while (he’s expected to serve more than four years). “You know, I really don’t know the specifics about that,” the Rachel Getting Married star said. “I’m just kind of promoting my movie, living my life. I got to keep my dog! That’s the most important thing. That’s the thing that I focused on.”

Letterman suggested that Hathaway also got a boost to her self-esteem. “Thanks, I had my self-esteem before but I’m very happy, I’m in a good place,” she said. “Ok, you tell me when it’s time to quit because I have a couple more questions,” he said, continuing to press the actress. “How long did you know the guy?”

“We dated for four years,” Hathaway said before breaking into laughter when asked if Follieri took anything from her purse.

[From Us Magazine]

Hathaway swears up and down that she and Follieri were broken up for a while before he was arrested, and that the phone call she made to him a few hours prior to him being taken into custody was just a final ending of things. I think she handled the whole thing with a good deal of grace, but it’s something she’s going to have to talk about eventually. There’s obviously a lot that went on behind the scenes and it’s natural for people to feel intrigued. She kind of deflected that first question about recognizing signs in Follieri’s character before he was arrested, but she did a good job with the interview on the whole.

Here’s Anne’s interview – video thanks to YouTube. Images of Anne outside of “Late Night” yesterday. Images thanks to Fame.

Anne Hathaway and Raffaello on 8/8/07. ANG/Fame Pictures
It’s official: Raffaello Follieri is a con man. The Italian sleazeball, who rode to fame on actress girlfriend Anne Hathaway’s couture coattails, has entered guilty pleas to all 14 charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. He is expected to be sentenced to at least five years in a federal prison. In his allocution, Follieri admitted that he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Anne Hathaway’s ex won’t be bothering her anytime soon — well at least for the next 5 years — after the dirtball pled guilty to 14 counts of con-artistry just moments ago in a Manhattan Federal court.

Raffaello Follieri will serve at least five years in prison for filching $6 mil while pretending to be the Vatican’s chief money man.

[From TMZ]

Meanwhile, Anne gave her first real interview about the situtation with Follieri in an upcoming issue of W magazine.

Anne Hathaway is breaking her silence about her split from Italian beau Raffaello Follieri, who was arrested in June on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

“As soon as I found out about the arrest, I had to get on a plane to Mexico to do a press tour for Get Smart,” she says in October’s W. “And then I spent a week in shock at a friend’s house.”

(Vanity Fair has reported that Hathaway, 25, broke off her four-year relationship with Follieri, 30, just hours before his arrest. “You were the love of my life,” she told him by phone on June 23.)

On Wednesday, Follieri pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. He will serve more than four years in prison.

“It’s a situation where the rug was pulled out from under me all of a sudden,” Hathaway tells W of the incident. “But just as suddenly, my friends threw another rug back under me. One said, ‘Go stay at my house.’

“And [Get Smart co-star] Steve Carell stepped up for me during an interview when someone asked a question [about it]. He said, ‘At some point you’re going to have to talk about this time in your life. You don’t have to do it this week. I’ll take care of anything that comes your way.’

“I’ve been shown such kindness,” Hathaway goes on, wiping a tear from her face. “Not everyone gets that. A lot of people go through tough times alone.”

She says she is still not over the ordeal (she admitted to reading Gandhi’s autobiography When Things Fall Apart).

While visiting her Rachel Getting Married director Jonathan Demme and his family, she got sad.

“They all had so much going on. And I just started to cry because I thought, ‘I don’t have a life right now,’” she says. “And I haven’t for some time, and I just haven’t noticed.”

“In the fall I’ll start focusing again,” Hathaway continues, “but right now I need to be me for a little bit.

[From Us Weekly]

It sounds like Anne was really blindsided by this – unfortunately, she was the last to know that she was dating a big phony. Rumors about Rafaello were swirling around for months before he was finally nabbed, but sometimes when you are in the middle of a situation, it’s hard for you to believe that the person you think you know isn’t the real deal. Anyway, I’m glad the guy is being forced to pay for his crimes- and I hope Anne is a lot more careful from now on.

Anne Hathaway is shown at the Toronto Film Festival at the premiere of “Rachel Getting Married” on 9/6/08. Credit: WENN.

Actress Anne Hathaway plopped down $37,000 a month for her then-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri’s apartment in Olympic Towers in NY for the last four months of his lease before the Feds closed in and arrested him on fraud and money laundering charges. You would think the guy would have some money left to his name after bilking investors in an elaborate scheme for around $50 million. He paid a $1.3 million settlement to billionaire Ron Burkle in April, but he must have been broke for a couple months before that. If Hathaway was paying his rent for four months until June that means all his ill-gotten gains had pretty much run out by the time he had to pay that settlement – or maybe he was just scamming her, too.

Vanity Fair has more details on this sordid story of the actress and the con man.

The “Get Smart” actress paid her beleaguered beau’s whopping $37,000 monthly rent at his sumptuous Olympic Tower duplex for four months until finally, in June, his lease ran out – and she ditched him as the feds closed in on his schemes, a titillating new Vanity Fair report says.

“It was totally love at first sight . . . He is sooo good-looking . . . He looks like a god,” the young actress once cooed after the pair met in spring 2004, the article says.

But by this summer, their passionate, fiery relationship was over – and badly.

A humiliated Follieri dissolved into tears the night of June 23 while staying in a spare bed at his parents’ place at Trump Tower – as his “baby,” Hathaway, dumped him over the phone, Vanity Fair says.
Follieri, dressed in his nightly pajama uniform of “dark blue or black Ralph Lauren polo shirt and white shorts,” kept his good-luck charm nearby – “a large, green, plastic frog, about 9 inches high and wide” – as he took the distressing call.

Hathaway, 25, tried to let him off gently.

“You were the love of my life,” she told him, according to the mag. “I’ll always love you. You know that, baby.”

Six hours later, the feds busted in and hauled off the 29-year-old Follieri in handcuffs on charges of money laundering and wire fraud.

It was later rumored that Hathaway had a hand in the bust, having allegedly lured Follieri back to his adopted home of New York from Italy to face the raps.

[From The NY Post via TMZ]

There are plenty of other government and church officials involved too. Follieri’s scheme is being called “Vati-Con,” and he claimed to investors to have been the CFO for the Vatican and to be able to offer Catholic properties in the US at rock bottom prices. In reality he was just putting in bids with everyone else and bribing Vatican employees and church officials to help him pull off the scam. Follieri faces life in prison if he’s convicted on all the counts of fraud and money laundering he’s charged with.

Hathaway knew her boyfriend was facing lawsuits for months and now that the news is out that she was paying his rent for so long you have to wonder why she stayed with him. Maybe she knew the fantasy was cracking but wasn’t quite ready to face reality yet. Somehow she escaped with her reputation intact and she’s still the sweet naive actress. She must have known something was going on and it looks like she got out at the last minute to save herself before it was too late.

Here’s Hathaway at the Venice Film Festival this morning at the premiere of Rachel Getting Married. Credit : Apega/WENN

Law & Order often features “ripped from the headlines” stories that are easily identified as fictional accounts based on a high-profile celebrity case. Writers are said to be working on an episode based on the as-yet-unfinished saga of Raffaello Follieri, the Italian con man who dated actress Anne Hathaway and is now awaiting trial on Federal charges of fraud and money laundering. Follieri lived large in a penthouse in Trump Tower and took Hathaway on lavish vacations and regularly flew on private jets. He was living at the expense of investors in his elaborate scam, in which he claimed to be the CFO for the Vatican and said he could buy Catholic Church properties in the US at rock bottom prices. He was simply putting in bids for the properties along with everyone else and had no ties to the church apart from the bishops and Vatican employees he bribed. Hathaway has since broken it off with Follieri, but she is said to have been reluctant to cut ties with him.

Many of NY’s elite met Follieri through Hathaway, and the actress helped him achieve a type of legitimacy which may have delayed his prosecution. It’s a story that many find fascinating and Law and Order will use it as a basis for an episode:

The writers of NBC’s Law & Order… [are] hard at work on a script that mirrors the rise and fall of the Italian businessman.

“Rafaello’s arrest was and still is all the buzz in NY City’s social circles because so many big-name types rubbed elbows with him and thought he was real,” says a source. “He was the ultimate con man: handsome, rich, smooth and with a celebrity girlfriend to make him seem legit.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, August 11, 2008]

We ran a story on Friday that nude photos of Hathaway taken by Follieri were said to be among the effects seized by the FBI in a raid on his storage space. Many of you commented on that article she must have known something was going on during their four year relationship and either chose to ignore it or somehow justified it to herself. There were clues that the guy was a con man months ago when he was bouncing checks and getting sued for misappropriating investor funds.

Have any of you dated a con man or sociopath and did you stay after you had some indication that he was a liar? This guy probably made her feel like the center of his warped world and if was that good at fooling investors he may have been an expert at laying the romance on thick. She did get out eventually at least.

Anne Hathaway and Raffaello Follieri are shown in Porto Cervo, Italy on 8/8/07. Credit: ANG/Fame Pictures