FBI To Assist With Australian Dog-Smuggling Perjury Probe Against Amber Heard

Actress Amber Heard is being investigated for claims of perjury.

It’s been speculated that the “Aquaman” actress might face perjury charges for claiming that she had donated her divorce settlement to the ACLU, although she testified in the highly-publicized defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp that “pledged” and “donated” are synonymous.

Putting that aside, for now, the Law & Crime Network reported that the FBI is actually assisting the Australian government in investigating perjury claims regarding her two teacup Yorkies.

Those who watched the six-week trial in Fairfax, Virginia, did not hear much about the dog-smuggling Australia incident. One of Depp’s attorneys, Camille Vasquez, attempted to question the “Zombieland” actress about the incident during her cross-examination. However, one of Heard’s lawyers, Elaine Bredehoft, objected. After a brief sidebar with Judge Penney Azcarate, the topic was dismissed and was not discussed again.

Although “The Adderall Diaries” actress filed a restraining order against the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star in May 2016, a month earlier, the couple had sat down together to film an apology video regarding the time that Heard brought two teacup Yorkies to Australia without permission in 2015.

The Law & Crime Network revealed on Tuesday that the Australian government is actually assisting Australia in its perjury investigation.

Those who watched the defamation trial in Fairfax, Virginia, have heard a lot about how Depp’s finger somehow became severed in March 2015. A few months later, in May 2015, Depp was still filming the fifth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie in Australia when Heard decided to join him. She boarded a private jet and brought her two teacup Yorkies, Pistol and Boo, with her.

Australia has strict rules for bringing animals, especially dogs and cats, into the country due to biosecurity threats. An import permit, eligible vaccines, supporting documentation, and a ten-day quarantine, are all required to bring your pet into the country, according to the Australian Pet Traveller website.

At the time, Australian officials gave any pet owner a difficult choice: take the animals out of the country or they will be euthanized. Depp ended up sending the dogs back to the United States.

The story dominated headlines at the time. In July 2015, the Daily Mail reported that Amber Heard had been charged with illegally importing dogs into the country by the Australian government. In April 2016, Heard pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of falsifying travel documents. She blamed jet lag and sleep deprivation for the slip. She also sat down with her ex-husband to record an apology video to the Australian government, which they then posted on YouTube.

In 2020, Johnny Depp famously sued the British tabloid “The Sun” for calling him a “wife-beater.” Depp lost the case and was unable to score an appeal, but his former estate manager, Kevin Murphy, had shed new light on the incident.

According to reports from The Associated Press and an Australian news website gathered by the Law & Crime Network, Murphy testified that he “repeatedly told Heard by email and phone that she could not take the dogs to Australia because the proper paperwork had not been completed and arrangements had not been made for the dogs to be quarantined.”

Murphy had told the court that Heard wanted her former assistant, Kate James, to take the blame for lying on forms she did not declare her two dogs.

Elsewhere in the U.K. trial, Amber Heard also blamed Johnny Depp for an incident, testifying that he told her to find a veterinarian “to grease” in 2013. A source told the network that those comments were false.

Retired FBI agent and attorney Bobby Chacon told the Law & Crime Network that it “would not be unusual” for the FBI to assist a foreign government in such an investigation.

“The FBI maintains an office in Canberra and there are FBI Agents permanently assigned to Australia (on a rotating basis),” Chacon explained. “Part of their mission is liaison and assistance so if the Australians needed something from here in the US they would certainly contact the FBI’s Australia Office and the FBI would likely assist.”

Last Thursday, a spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture, Water, and the environment is reportedly “investigating allegations of perjury by Ms. Heard during court proceedings for the 2015 illegal importation of two dogs into Australia.”

The agency added that, since “the matter is ongoing,” the department “cannot make any further comment” at this time.

Unfortunately, Johnny Depp's legal troubles are far from over, either. Camille Vasquez will again defend Johnny Depp against assault allegations in a new lawsuit filed by a former location manager on the set of his film "City of Lies." Those interested can read more about the assault allegations Depp is facing here.