Anne Hathaway and the $30,000 Housecall

This is the story of a Hollywood starlet, a handsome billionaire, a former U.S. president, a less handsome billionaire, and the Vatican.

It's the story of Raffaello Follieri, better known in some circles as the investor who allegedly swindled supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, and in other circles as Anne Hathaway's boyfriend.

Er, make that ex-boyfriend. Turns out that Hathaway, who starred in The Devil Wears Prada and this weekend's box office hit Get Smart, reportedly ended her four-year relationship with Follieri just days before federal agents arrested him.

In a complaint filed today, prosecutors are charging Follieri with wire fraud and money laundering relating his real estate investment firm Follieri Group LLC. Burkle's investment firm Yucaipa Cos. was an investor in the real estate firm, and he sued Follieri last year for allegedly misappropriating $1.3 million of Burkle's funds for financing Follieri's lavish lifestyle. Yucaipa committed a total of $105 million to Follieri's ventures, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Oh, and Bill Clinton is both an investor in Yucaipa and his foundation was once a recipient of a $1 million donation from the Follieri Group's foundation, which Hathaway served as a board member.

But back to the complaint. The FBI's investigation into Follieri's business revealed quite a few gems. Among them:

--Follieri misrepresented himself to investors as the Vatican's official financial manager, and he claimed that in that capacity he was able to buy unwanted real estate from the Catholic Church at below-market prices.

--Follieri allegedly went to great lengths to give the appearance that he had close ties to the Vatican and the Pope. This included hiring two monsignors to travel with him to create the impression he was close to the Church. He even asked one of them to change into a ceremonial robe from a more senior clergyman in the Catholic Church to make it look more official, according to one witness.

--Because he had no close ties to the Vatican, he tried to buy them by donating $387,000 of his investor's money to the Vatican.

--Follieri used investor money to finance a lavish lifestyle for himself, his family, and his girlfriend. This included extravagant vacations, medical expenses (including a $30,000, trans-Atlantic housecall from his personal physician), and a luxury apartment overlooking Rockefeller Center in New York City.

--Although the complaint never mentions his girlfriend by name, paparazzi have documented Anne Hathaway's relationship with Follieri going back to 2004. The time period in the complaint was from June 2005 to June 2007.

While Follieri will appear before a federal magistrate in New York later today, the newly single Hathaway is out promoting Get Smart.

No word yet who will play her in the movie version of her love life, which is certain to make for a juicy script some day.

by Megan Barnett

Anne Hathaway and Raffaello Follieri during happier days. Photo by Larry Busacca/WireImage