A new investigation into the dog-smuggling case involving the 'Aquaman' actress in 2015 when she was still married to Johnny Depp has been launched by officials Down Under.
- Oct 30, 2021
AceShowbiz - Australian officials have reportedly launched a perjury investigation into Amber Heard's 2015 dog-smuggling drama.
The "Aquaman" star ignored the country's quarantining laws when she took her Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo Down Under, and she was accused of breaching biosecurity regulations.
She avoided prosecution and possible charges by making a public apology, during which she blamed a lack of sleep for the oversight.
Her claims were questioned during her ex-husband Johnny Depp's U.K. libel trial against The Sun in 2020, when the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star's former estate manager, Kevin Murphy, told London's High Court the actress had ordered him to lie under oath after she flew her pets into Queensland on a private jet without filling out the proper paperwork.
DailyMail.com sources claim Australian officials at the nation's Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment quietly reopened the case and they have enlisted the help of FBI agents to track down witnesses in the U.S.
Sources claim Amber could be charged with perjury the next time she sets foot on Australian soil - and that carries a maximum of 14 years behind bars.
"She could just ignore the whole thing and never go back, but a huge number of movies are shot in Australia, including Aquaman, the movie for which she's most well-known," an insider says. "Alternatively, Amber could go back there and face her detractors. That's often her style. It's pretty evident by now that she's not one for backing down in the face of legal threats."
In her video apology in 2016, Heard said, "Australia is free of many pests and diseases that are commonplace around the world. That is why Australia has to have such strong biosecurity laws. I'm truly sorry that Pistol and Boo were not declared. Protecting Australia is important."
At the time, she was facing two charges of illegal importation of an animal and a possible 10-year prison sentence. Heard pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of falsifying an immigration document and paid a hefty fine. Her lawyer, Jeremy Kirk, told the authorities the paperwork had "slipped through the cracks" and that there was "no attempt to deceive."
Last year, Murphy told London's High Court in a written statement he had warned Amber about Australia's strict animal entry rules, stating, "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."
"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 co-operated with providing a declaration that supported her false account for the Australian proceedings. Because of this I felt extreme pressure to co-operate, despite knowing this would involve being untruthful."
