Bar Refaeli has been sentenced to nine months community service for tax evasion.
The 35-year-old supermodel reached a plea deal over the long-running investigation into allegations of tax evasion and false tax reporting in June, and on Sunday (13.09.20), Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court upheld the sentence previously agreed, which will also see Bat’s mother, Tzipi jailed for 16 months.
Bar will report for her community service on 21 September, the same day her mother will go to prison.
In court, the judge noted she had taken into consideration the pair’s contribution to society, the facts that Bar has three children and Tzipi has a medical condition, and also the pattern that in many cases, tax offenders have no previous criminal record.
She ruled: "I have concluded that this is an overall punishment which is reasonable."
The agreement will also see the family required to pay any outstanding taxes that are ruled to be due, as well as a 5 million shekel ($1.4 million) fine. The ‘X Factor Israel’ host also withdrew the appeals she had pending before the Israeli Supreme Court and the Tel Aviv District Court relating to the years 2009-2012.
The case against the model and her mother was first opened in 2015, but dates back to when the Israeli beauty was in her early 20s and her mom was working as her agent.
Bar – who has children Liv, four, Elle, two, and David, nine months, with husband Adi Ezra – was suspected of tax evasion following concerns over her primary residence at a time when she was dating Leonardo DiCaprio and appearing in modelling campaigns around the world.
Tax law in Israel determines residency based on where a person spends most of the calendar year and the model had initially claimed she didn’t spend most of her time in her home country and so "did not have to declare her worldwide income in certain years."
At the time the case was opened, it was reported authorities were investigating claims Bar hid the fact she was an Israeli resident and had allegedly failed to report millions of dollars in income and gifts.
Bar’s lawyer initially denied the claims against her and said the case would "clear up soon".
Speaking in 2015, the legal representative said: "There is no drama. In the end, this is just a civil dispute. No-one cheated anyone else. It will all clear up soon."