Anne Hathaway's Boyfriend Arrested in New York

By Stephen M. Silverman and Nicole Weisensee Egan

04/03/2008 at 05:00 PM EDT

Anne Hathaway's boyfriend of the past four years, Italian property developer Raffaelo Follieri, was arrested Thursday and charged with trying to pass a bad check, NYPD spokesman Det. Martin Speechley tells PEOPLE.

The check was for around $250,000, says TMZ.com, which first reported the arrest.

Follieri was recently ordered by a Washington, D.C., court to pay a public-relations firm $250,000 for work done on his behalf, the Web site says.

This isn't Follieri's first run of bad press. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported on billionaire Ron Burkle's lawsuit against Follieri for allegedly squandering $1.3 million in business funds to support his extremely lavish lifestyle. Follieri denied any wrongdoing.

Earlier this year, the Devil Wears Prada star, 25, and Follieri, 29, were seen together at New York's hip hangout, the Waverly Inn. In February 2007, Hathaway told London's Sunday Times that Follieri was a positive influence who helped bring her out of a lengthy depression.

"He's brought out so many positive attributes," she said. "Before I met him, I wasted so much time. I was just annoying and narcissistic and smelled bad. He's protective without being possessive, passionate without needing to show his temper."

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