The Devil Wears Prada, but also has his clothes made

 Anne Hathaway, The "Get Smart" actress ended her relationship with her boyfriend of four years, Raffaello Follieri last week amid reports that his charity was being probed by the New York Attorney General’s Office.

Yesterday, Follieri was indicted by prosecutors who claim he duped investors in his venture to buy Catholic Church properties in the United States by suggesting he had top Vatican contacts who could help him do business, going so far as to hire two monsignors to travel with him on deal-making trips. Those monsignors purportedly accepted monies in exchange for representing that they were higher Church officials in an effort to bolster Follieri’s fraud. Follieri is charged with multiple counts of fraud and money laundering.

One such fraud involved Follieri using his investors' money to fund an extravagant lifestyle with Hathaway. His “investor” was Ron Burkle, the supermarket magnate and modern day “RatPack” buddy to former President Clinton. Burkle had pursued a civil suit against Follieri earlier this year and recovered about $1.2M, but lost far more. Another investor, Canadian real-estate exec Michael Cooper, also reportedly gave millions to Follieri. Amongst his extravagances were an apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan, designer and custom clothing and jewels, dentistry for his father (a convicted con-man) and gifts.

Newspaper accounts report that in recent months, Follieri repeatedly "stalled" on paying waiters and bartenders he hired for frequent celebrity-studded parties he threw with Hathaway at another luxurious apartment he rented in the Olympic Towers on Fifth Avenue. It was noted that at those parties, the two monsignors were constant guests.

The New York Archdiocese said they rejected Follieri property purchases because he made lowball offers. Other dioceses said he appeared suspicious to them or failed to follow through on promises in other cases. Follieri is accused of swindling up to $6 million and failed to post the $21 million bail. When arrested, Follieri had a ticket for a flight to Italy and planned to travel to Capri.

John M. Hanamirian