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30th Jun 2022

Amber Heard is now being investigated for perjury

Charlie Herbert

Amber Heard perjury investigation in Australia

It’s not for what you might think though…

Just under a month after the conclusion of her defamation trial with Johnny Depp, Amber Heard could be facing yet more legal action – in Australia.

Heard is currently the subject of an “ongoing” perjury investigation in the country relating to an infamous visit to Queensland she made with Depp in 2015.

The trip hit headlines around the world after the couple broke Australia’s strict quarantine and biosecurity laws by failing to declare their Yorkshire terriers on arrival in the country.

Heard had ticked “no” on her immigration card in answer to whether she was importing anything into Australia that ought to have been declared.

She was subsequently charged with two counts of illegally bringing the dogs, Pistol and Boo, into Australia, with the nation’s agriculture minister ordering that the animals be removed from the country or destroyed.

The case was closed when she pleaded guilty in April 2016 to charges of falsifying travel documents. The actress said she thought Depp’s assistants had arranged the terriers’ passage into the country.

However, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has now revealed that the Aquaman actress is the subject of an investigation into allegations of perjury during the court proceedings.

A spokesperson for the department told ET Canada: “The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (department) is investigating allegations of perjury by Ms. Heard during court proceedings for the 2015 illegal importation of (her) two dogs into Australia.”

They added that the case is “ongoing.”

Heard and Depp, who were married at the time of the Australia visit, famously published an apology video to the Australian government in April 2016 following the controversy.

On June 1, a jury in Fairfax County, Virginia, ruled that Heard defamed Depp by publishing a piece about being a sexual assault survivor in the Washington Post, which his team argued implied he abused Heard during their relationship.

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The punitive damages amount was later reduced to $350,000 in keeping with Virginia law.

Judge Penney Azcarate also ordered Depp to pay Heard US$2million.

The ruling brought an end to the bitter and protracted trial which took place over six weeks, although Heard’s legal team have claimed that she cannot pay the damages required and that they are planning on appealing the verdict.

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