Davide Sanclimenti’s girlfriend has been jailed for 18 months after admitting she filed a false tax return while more than $2.6 million (£1.95 million) linked to illicit funds passed through her accounts.

Iris Rabaya Au, who began dating the Love Island winner in 2024, pleaded guilty to one count of subscribing a false tax return under a deal agreed in March 2025. United States District Judge Percy Anderson also ordered her to pay $1.4 million (£1 million) in restitution.

Sanclimenti, 31, started his relationship with Au a year after separating from Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu. He and Cülcüloğlu won the eighth season of Love Island together.

Why was Iris Rabaya Au sentenced?

Federal prosecutors said Au deliberately failed to report more than $2.6 million (£1.96 million) transferred into her personal accounts between 2020 and 2023. The money was linked to her former partner, Adam Iza, a self-described cryptocurrency businessman who uses the name “The Godfather” online. Au calls herself “The Goddess”, because apparently ordinary usernames were not available.

According to prosecutors, Au created the financial structure that allowed Iza to move, spend and hide proceeds from fraud while enjoying the resulting wealth herself.

“Au concealed entities and income from her tax preparer and filed returns reporting only a small fraction of what she had actually received,” prosecutors said. “Those were affirmative acts designed to prevent the IRS from learning the true extent of her income.”

Christopher Darden, who was a co-prosecutor in the OJ Simpson murder trial, represented Au during the case.

In a video, Au said she had been coerced while in an “abusive relationship”. She acknowledged that she had “made mistakes” and said she took “full responsibility” for them.

Which luxury assets did Au surrender?

Au has also reportedly been required to forfeit a collection of expensive vehicles and designer goods connected to the case.

The seized cars were said to include:

  • A Mercedes-Benz GLS
  • A Porsche 911
  • A Ferrari 488 Pista

Her handbag collection also became considerably smaller. Reports said she surrendered 14 Louis Vuitton bags, three Chanel bags and other items from Prada, Dior, Hermès and Gucci.

Authorities alleged that Au acquired an estimated $16 million (£12 million) in cryptocurrency for Iza through shell accounts. The scale of the transactions sat rather awkwardly beside the much smaller income reported on her tax filings, which was central to the prosecution’s case.

How has Davide Sanclimenti responded?

Before Au was sentenced, Sanclimenti said he intended to stand by her. He claimed he had known about the case and had been “protecting her” throughout the legal proceedings.

The couple were later photographed leaving the Los Angeles Federal Courthouse together, with Sanclimenti placing an arm around Au.

Their relationship began in 2024 following his highly publicised split from Cülcüloğlu. Sanclimenti and Cülcüloğlu had won Love Island in 2022, but their relationship ended the following year.

What crimes did Adam Iza admit?

Iza has been in custody since 2024 and has admitted offences including wire fraud and tax evasion. Prosecutors said he gained access to Facebook advertising accounts and sold access to them, using shell businesses and associated bank accounts to conceal millions of dollars.

Some of the money was allegedly used to pay serving Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies for private security. Prosecutors also claimed Iza used deputies to obtain search warrants and confidential information about people involved in his personal or financial disputes.

The wider scheme funded about $10 million (£7.49 million) in luxury cars, property and jewellery, according to the prosecution.

In January 2025, Iza pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.

He is serving a 15-year prison sentence connected to an attempted Bitcoin robbery and kidnapping in Connecticut in 2024. Au’s false tax return conviction arose from the financial network surrounding his activities, rather than from the kidnapping case itself.