Celebrity
Amber’s Legal Troubles Continue As She’s Investigated For Allegations Of Perjury In Australia
It carries a maximum jail term of 14 years.
Amber Heard is now the subject of an ongoing perjury investigation in Australia. It’s alleged the actress had in 2015 broken the country’s strict quarantine and biosecurity laws by failing to declare she and Johnny Depp’s Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, when she arrived.
The 36-Year-Old is charged with two counts of illegally importing the animals in July 2015 even though the case had been closed when she pled guilty to falsifying travel documents in a Gold Coast court in April 2016.
At the time, her lawyer, Jeremy Kirk, insisted the paperwork for the dogs had ‘slipped through the cracks and that there was ‘no attempt to deceive.’ Kirk also said Heard thought her then-husband’s staff had completed the paperwork and was exhausted and suffering from sleep deprivation when she ticked the wrong box on her arrival card.
But the dog-smuggling saga was given a new life in October 2021 when it was exclusively revealed to DailyMail that Australian officials were investigating Heard for perjury over claims she lied to authorities.
The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment has equally confirmed the case is still ongoing. The department told ET Canada it’s investigating allegations of perjury by Heard amid court proceedings for the 2015 illegal importation of her two dogs into Australia. Notably, the incident happened during Heard’s infamous visit to Queensland with Depp in 2015. And following the confrontation, Heard and Depp had issued a video statement in which the actress expressed remorse for her actions.
But the video got mocked, with fans saying the couple looked like they’d been kidnapped and held to ransom.
The events went unchallenged until July 2020, when Depp’s former estate manager told London’s High court he had repeatedly warned Heard about Australia’s strict animal entry rules. “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 explained.
He also alleged when the smuggling controversy erupted, Heard demanded he provides a ‘false statement’ to the Australian court saying she didn’t know anything about the requirements.
Murphy added: “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. 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.”
“Because of this, I felt extreme pressure to cooperate, despite knowing this would involve being untruthful,” said Murphy, who worked for Depp for eight years.
He further confirmed to DailyMail.com that he had been contacted by the FBI and had agreed to provide Australian authorities with a witness statement. However, perjury carries a maximum jail term of 14 years, while the latter offense can result in 7 years under the Queensland penal code. It’s unlikely the Australian government would try to have Heard extradited, but she could likely face arrest if she tried to enter the country again.
