Anne Hathaway’s former boyfriend, disgraced Italian businessman Raffaello Follieri, said he harbors no ill will for the actress, who dumped him shortly after his arrest.
Follieri told ABC News he doesn’t freak out, when he sees pictures of the raven-haired beauty Hathaway and her new boyfriend, designer Adam Shulman.
“I am very happy [for Hathaway],” Follieri said in an interview set to air on “Nightline” tonight. “I only want the best for this person. She was very sweet to me. We had a very nice relationship. I have nothing bad to say [about Hathaway].”
Hathaway and her suave boyfriend Follieri were once the toasts of Manhattan and Hollywood, hitting red carpets and partying with social elite.
But that all changed four years ago, when Follieri was busted for scamming investors to fuel his champagne lifestyle.
“My life was pretty good” before the arrest, Follieri said. “I had a girl that I loved. My business was going well.”
Follieri said it was true love and marriage was on their minds.
“Absolutely it was [love]. I was very much in love with this, with this girl,” he said. “Yeah it was for sure we talked about this [marriage]. We talked about that several times.”
They last saw each other, face-to-face, was at the Gramercy Park Hotel, about two weeks before his arrest, Follieri told People magazine.
By this point, speculation of Follieri’s imminent arrest had become rampant. He asked “The Princess Diaries” star to come to his upcoming birthday party in Capri, but she was noncommittal.
“’I’ll love you forever,’“ she said, according to Follieri.
Shortly after his arrest, Follieri said he tried calling Hathaway but she didn’t respond.
“It was painful,” he said People, “but after, you accept.”
Hathaway was never a target of federal prosecutors. She had no idea Follieri’s real estate and development company was, in large part, a fraud.
Follieri fleeced investors, telling them he had ties to high Vatican officials — and that those connections would open doors to buying and redeveloping Catholic church property.
“I thought that was the American a dream,” Follieri told ABC. “But it was not so long later, everything fell apart.”
The con man pleaded guilty to 14 counts of conspiracy, money laundering and wire fraud. He was locked up in Pennsylvania prison until last month, when he was released and deported back to Italy.
Follieri said he wants to get back into big business. He blamed youthful exuberance for his scamming transgressions.
“I don’t think that is something negative. When you’re 25 years old and, you know, you have a company growing very fast, you get carried away in [that] situation,” he said.