Anne Hathaway's split from longtime boyfriend Raffaello Follieri last week couldn't have come at a better time: not only did the media exposure help push her latest film, Get Smart, to the No. 1 spot at the box office, she also narrowly avoided ensuring the words "dating a felon" would worm their way into all future articles on her rising stardom.

Follieri was arrested on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering, reports Reuters. The 30-year-old Italian "businessman" is accused of tricking investors into believing he had close ties to the Vatican. His implied connection to the Catholic Church allowed him to purchase the Church's unwanted real estate property at a slashed rate, according to federal prosecutors and the FBI.

But it turns out Follieri wasn't exactly doing God's work. According to the complaint, he is accused of using his investors' money to finance his $37,000 US/month Manhattan apartment, expensive clothes, restaurant meals, dog-walking services, wine, vacations, cosmetics, orthodontist expenses and more.

The 18-page indictment is filled with juicy details, including the part in which witnesses claim Follieri kept clergymen's robes at his NYC office, and at one point, instructed a monsignor he was with to change out of his robes "and put on the robe of a more senior clergyman in order to create the false impression that Follieri had close ties to the Vatican." (We don't even want to imagine how many Hail Marys it's going to take to be absolved of that one.)

If convicted, Follieri could face as much as five years in prison for conspiracy, 20 years for wire fraud and 20 years in prison for money laundering, plus fines, reports Reuters. According to TMZ, his bail was set at $21 million during an arraignment on Tuesday.

© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.