Refaeli was arrested by Israeli police on Thursday and questioned for several hours by authorities in Tel Aviv, and she stands accused of tax evasion in her native land.
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The report states Refaeli denies allegations of wrongdoing, and must request permission from authorities if she wants to leave the country.
Refaeli’s mother Zipora was also arrested, with the Tax Authority estimating the unreported income from overseas at “dozens of millions of shekels”.
It said she lived in luxury apartments registered under her mother and brother’s names.
Non-resident Israelis are exempted from having to declare income earned overseas.
Israel’s tax authorities say the newlywed, who married businessman Adi Ezra in September, failed to report certain “celebrity benefits” or assets gifted to her or bought with extreme discounts in exchange for photo shoots and publicity, NBC reports.
Refaeli’s mother was also taken into custody as a suspected accomplice.
She was released on bail on Thursday afternoon, but her passport has been confiscated and she is banned from leaving the country for 180 days.
Refaeli’s lawyer Giora Aderet tells Israel news site Nrg.co.il, “There is no drama”.
The New York Post set out to half-mock, half-defend the blond, blue-eyed worldwide household name – who had a long much gossiped-about relationship with mega movie star Leonardo DiCaprio a few years ago – by producing a 52-second video poking fun at her “model” behavior.
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She stirred controversy when she evaded her two years of mandatory military service by marrying a friend of her father’s, only to divorce him a short time later.
