Kamis, 11 September 2008

Anne Hathaway breaks silence on boyfriend arrest

Actress Anne Hathaway says she felt like "a rug was pulled out from under me" when her Italian boyfriend, Raffaello Follieri, was arrested on fraud charges and that she is still looking for a new place to live.

"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.' And then I spent a week in shock at a friend's house. And then I had to go back and do more press, and I haven't stopped since," Hathaway, 25, was quoted as saying.

Hathaway declined to discuss specifics about Follieri or what she knew abut his business dealings. But the actress said she had been staying at a friend's house since moving out of the New York apartment she shared with Follieri, which was searched by investigators.

"I have to find a place to live," she told the magazine. "It's a situation where the rug was pulled out from under me all of a sudden, but just as suddenly my friends threw another rug back under me."

Follieri, 30, pleaded guilty in New York on Wednesday to 14 counts of fraud and money laundering. He admitted to lying about his links to the Vatican and taking part in a scheme in which he obtained more than $2 million in a web of shell companies with phony consultancies.

When he is sentenced in October, he could face years behind bars. He also has agreed to hand over gold and silver watches, rings, bracelets and earrings that he had given to Hathaway.

Prosecutors said Follieri used money from his scheme to buy expensive clothes, meals and a $37,000-a-month Manhattan apartment, as well exotic vacations and private jets for his girlfriend.

"I've been shown such kindness. Not everyone gets that. A lot of people go through tough times alone," Hathaway said.