It's not that Anne Hathaway's ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri is a con artist. It's that he's a bad con-artist. How to tell? He was arrested! That's sort of the biggest criteria for finding out if a con artist is bad at his game. The second piece of criteria? Going to prison, which is where it sounds like he's headed.

Trying to buy some sway with the pope, because you told your investors you were the Church's financial manager, by donating $387,000 of your investors' cash to the Vatican? And when that didn't work, you hired a pair of monsignors to travel with you and then asked them to change into a more seniorial robe to send the impression you were down with god's No. 2? If this sounds like a caper out of one of, uh, Hathaway's movies, add to the film treatment many more hundreds of thousands of swindled funds that went toward funding a lavish lifestyle including a Trump Tower duplex, custom tailored clothes, and luxurious holiday travels, and you're really on your way to the bumbling about of Get Smart.

It's all part of a 12-count conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering federal charge (at 20 years of jail time per count) filed today against Follieri, who was supposed to be running an above-the-board real estate development operation with all that money. Meanwhile, with Ron Burkle fingered as Follieri's principal investor, you get to add sexy names like Bill Clinton (an investor at Burkle's Follieri Yucaipa's fund) to the scandal. Burkle, of course, sued Follieri last year, accusing him of "misappropriating" $1.3 million; the money was paid back and the case was settled.

It's unclear whether Hathaway was aware of his wrongdoings, but prosecutors certainly believe she benefited, taking trips on private plans and receiving medical care paid for by Follieri's blank cheques.

The Smoking Gun has the court docs.