Anne Hathaway may have tipped FBI that Follieri was selling Church land, falsely claiming Vatican permission

By Matthew B. Zeidman

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/30/08 – Anne Hathaway has kept largely silent on the legal troubles embroiling her former boyfriend, financier Raffaello Follieri. But, now an anonymous associate of Follieri has suggested the “Get Smart” star was actually at least partly responsible for putting the businessman in jail.

In an article printed Sunday, the unidentified source told New York’s Daily News that because court documents filed by prosecutors during Follieri’s indictment made reference to an unnamed ex-girlfriend involved in the case, the government must have already been privy to an unannounced change in their relationship, indicating the “Brokeback Mountain” actress had been talking to the FBI.

“I think that in return for her cooperation, the feds held off on arresting Follieri until she was out of the country,” the source further speculated.

Think you might be going to hell? Read on. Follieri is being held on charges he lured clients into investing money in a fraudulent fund to buy and redevelop U.S. land belonging to the Catholic Church. He allegedly told prospects that he had been authorized to acquire the land at below-market prices by the church’s leadership at the Vatican. Before the abrupt split, Follieri, 29, and Hathaway, 25, had been dating for more than four years.