THE gilded Hollywood career of Anne Hathaway, the acclaimed star of films such as The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada, has been rocked by a multi-million-dollar lawsuit alleging that her Italian boyfriend helped to finance their globe-trotting lifestyle with “improper” use of corporate funds.

For the past three years Hathaway, 24, has attracted respect and admiration in Hollywood for her charitable efforts on behalf of a foundation established by her boyfriend, Raffaello Follieri, 28, a property developer with close ties to the Catholic church.

Unlike some of her Hollywood contemporaries, Hathaway has never suffered any hostile publicity over her private life. A devout Christian, she spent part of last summer in Nicaragua and Honduras helping to vaccinate children against hepatitis on a Follieri Foundation programme.

Yet it emerged last week that a lawsuit filed by a prominent Californian investor accuses Follieri of “wilfully and systematically misappropriating” at least $1.3m intended for a joint property venture. The lawsuit alleges that part of the money was improperly loaned to the Follieri Foundation, of which Hathaway is a board member. According to legal records, Follieri also lavished hundreds of thousands of dollars on private jets for himself and Hathaway; on a penthouse apartment in New York; and on “massive charges” at five-star hotels and restaurants.

Follieri has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the lawsuit as “petty allegations” by a vindictive business partner. But the case has raised eyebrows because the investor suing him is Ron Burkle, a billionaire entrepreneur and close friend of Bill Clinton, the former president.

Clinton is a paid adviser to Burkle’s Yucaipa holding company. The company controls the investment fund that sank $55m into a joint venture with Follieri to buy up surplus properties from the Catholic church and redevelop them for housing and community services.

The Follieri Foundation’s vaccination programmes were honoured by the former president last September at a gathering of the Clinton Global Initiative, which recruits wealthy busi-nessmen to help to solve problems of poverty and disease.

There is no suggestion that Hathaway was involved in any wrongdoing, but the lawsuit appears to cast a shadow over one of Hollywood’s most appealing couples. Many a hard-bitten interviewer has been bowled over by Hathaway’s unashamed devotion to her handsome beau.

“He’s brought out so many positive attributes I never had before,” she gushed to Julia Llewellyn Smith in The Sunday Times last February. “Before I met him . . . I was just annoying and narcissistic, and smelt bad. He’s protective without being possessive, passionate without needing to show his temper. I’m sorry, I know I sound insipid.”

Llewellyn Smith added: “She does, but the way she’s blushing is incredibly sweet.”

Although Burkle was impressed with the young Italian when they were introduced in 2005, the lawsuit claims that “virtually from the start” the church property venture began running over agreed budgets.

When Yucaipa officials began to scrutinise the accounts, they found evidence of “personal extravagances and budget mismanagement”. Last March Yucaipa sent Follieri a formal letter demanding “increased fiscal responsibility”, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Follieri dismissed the allegations of misused funds as the “result of a little money that needs to go back in the right pot”. A lawyer for the foundation has also claimed that the money loaned by Yucaipa has since been repaid.

The dispute has taken an ugly turn amid reports that Follieri’s father, Pasquale, was given a three-year commuted jail sentence by an Italian court for embezzling from a bankrupt company whose assets he was in charge of protecting. The case caused a stir in the Italian media and is being appealed against.

In 2003 the Follieris formed a new business, the Follieri Group, specialising in the renovation of church properties. According to the Yucaipa lawsuit, the Follieris claimed to have “substantial and valuable” contacts with the Vatican, but Vatican officials have denied a formal relationship.

The case also helps to explain why Bill and Hillary Clinton decided to liquidate millions of dollars of personal sharehold-ings held in an investment trust. The move was intended to eliminate potential embarrassment for Hillary’s presidential bid.

Ironically, Bill Clinton’s Yucaipa connection was one of the couple’s few business interests to survive the purge – disclosure forms showed he still has an interest of up to $250,000 in Burkle’s company. A spokesman for the former president hastily noted that Follieri was among several people honoured by the Global Initiative and that Clinton “does not know him well”.

Hathaway may have to weather awkward publicity when the case comes to court, but last week she said: “I have faith that the court system will sort this out.”

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