Amber Heard Under Investigation for Perjury: Report
Amber Heard is under investigation for perjury after allegedly bringing her two dogs into Australia illegally, according to a report by The Daily Mail.
On Friday (Oct. 29), The Daily Mail reported that the Aquaman actress is being investigated by Australia's Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. The report claims that Heard "lied to Australian officials after smuggling her dogs into the country in 2015." A criminal probe is under way, and the FBI is reportedly currently gathering witnesses in the U.S.
At the time, Heard publicly apologized for the incident and blamed "lack of sleep" for not adequately providing the required paperwork for her Yorkshire Terriers, Pistol and Boo. The actress avoided an official bio-security charge.
Authorities are now looking into the incident once again after discovering new details about the flight which emerged during the 2020 U.K. libel trial in which her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, sued The Sun for calling him a "wife beater."
Kevin Murphy, who was Depp's estate manager for eight years, previously told the London courts that "Heard had ordered [Depp] to lie on oath after she flew the pets into Queensland in a private jet without declaring them." Murphy has allegedly been interviewed by investigators and provided emails that supposedly impact Heard.
"I also explained to Ms. Heard several times the fact that trying to take the dogs into Australia without completing the mandatory process was illegal and could result in very harsh penalties including euthanizing the dogs," Murphy said during the 2020 trial.
"When I expressed that I was extremely uncomfortable with this, Ms. Heard said to me 'Well I want your help on this … I wouldn't want you to have a problem with your job,'" he alleged. "It became very apparent that Ms. Heard was threatening my job stability unless I cooperated with providing a declaration that supported her false account for the Australian proceedings."
The dogs were supposed to be declared to local customs and given a 10-day quarantine period. However, they were discovered when a groomer posted photos of the two dogs on their Facebook account. Heard was ordered to send the dogs home or face having the dogs "seized and euthanized."
Heard pleaded guilty to a charge of falsifying an immigration document. She was fined $10,000 in Australian dollars. Her attorney at the time told the court that she believed Depp's staff completed the paperwork and that they were suffering from sleep deprivation and marked the wrong box on the customs form.