The tabloids are milking the schadenfreude out of the scandal surrounding Anne Hathaway’s ex-boyfriend Rafaello Follieri, who’s been charged with 12 counts of fraud for allegedly conning investors out of millions by posing as the Vatican’s financial manager, promising that his connections would let him up snatch up Church property for a song. Bail was set at $21 million, with the judge requiring an additional guarantee from five financially responsible persons.
But Follieri’s having trouble rounding up some responsible paisans – as of yesterday he was still stuck at the Manhattan Correctional Center, having been transferred there from the hospital following a post-arraignment anxiety attack. Meanwhile, his mother – who is staying at his Trump Tower penthouse as she undergoes cancer treatment – is stuck caring for the labrador he shares with Hathaway. A friend of Follieri asks the Post, “Could Anne Hathaway please come get her dog?”
The timing of his arrest earlier this week couldn’t have been worse; the Daily News has it that he was on the phone with Hathaway hours before his arrest, trying to win her back. (She reportedly dumped earlier this month when news broke of an investigation into his charitable foundation by the New York attorney general.) Friends of the couple say he was hoping Hathaway would attend his 30th birthday bash in Italy this weekend, which instead might well be celebrated in jail with tossed salad in lieu of fresh pasta.
And for the gossip completist, there’s more dirt here from a socialite who dishes on her creepy encounters with Follieri. The Post is also making thinly-veiled insinuations about mob ties by ending an article with the observation that the vice president of the Follieri Group is one Vincent Ponte, “who with his father, Angelo, owned V. Ponte & Sons, one of the largest waste management firms in New York.”
