Love Island star Davide Sanclimenti's new girlfriend facing three years in prison due to $2.6million tax row

The 30-year-old Love Island winner, who won the ITV dating show back in 2022 with his ex-girlfriend Ekin-Su Culculoglu, announced his relationship with Iris Au in January.

The pair may soon be separated, however, as she has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal tax charge and will face jail time as a result.

Au, age 35, is the former girlfriend of cryptocurrency fraudster Iza who called himself The Godfather. She failed to report ill-gotten gains she received through her former boyfriend’s criminal activities. A statement reveals that she has agreed to plead guilty to the tax charge and agreed to pay a federal criminal tax charge for failing to report $2.6 million (£2,004,886) in income.

A report from the United States Attorney's Office explained Au has agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge and is expected to make her initial appearance in United States District Court in Los Angeles in the next few days.

According to Au's plea agreement, from 2020 to 2024, Iza committed a series of crimes, including fraudulently obtaining access to advertising accounts and lines of credit provided by Facebook Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. and selling access to those accounts. Iza obtained millions of dollars of unreported income as a result of these schemes.

He also engaged active Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies to provide private security for him and caused the deputies to obtain court-authorised search warrants, among other things, and confidential law enforcement information - targeting people Iza had financial and personal disputes.

At Iza's direction, Au, who is a mum-of-two, created shell corporations and opened bank accounts in the names of those entities. She then used the illicit funds placed into those accounts to pay approximately $1 million to the deputies, mostly in cash. She also bought or leased luxury real estate, cars, jewellery, and clothing, paid for recreational activity for Iza and herself valued at nearly $10 million, and acquired approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency for Iza.

Au admitted in her plea agreement that she transferred more than $2.6 million from these various accounts to her personal bank accounts between 2020 and 2023, income that she willfully failed to report to the IRS on her federal tax returns.

Sanclimenti and Au have been dating since May last year after they met at a mutal friend’s dinner party. They moved in together at the end of August. The reality star claims he has been aware of his girlfriend’s situation throughout their relationship, and says he supports her fully.

He also claimed Au was still seeing The Godfather when they met, but she ditched him in favour of her. Speaking to MailOnline, he said: “He said: 'How The Italian Stallion stole the girl from the Godfather with the LAPD on a speed deal… this sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster.

“The truth is that I knew about her situation from the start which is why I was protecting her. Iris is an amazing person who has been through difficult situations that most people could never understand. There's so much of this extraordinary story that people don’t know yet. I will be there by her side to supply her as she deserves all the support and understanding.”

After pleading guilty, Au will now face up to three years in federal prison. Iza, meanwhile, appeared before a federal judge and pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion in January. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 16, at which time he will face up to 35 years in federal prison. Iza has been in federal custody since September 2024.

IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI are investigating this matter.