Amber Heard Faces More Trouble After Getting Investigated for Smuggling Dogs in Australia After Johnny Depp Defamation Trial Loss

Just weeks after losing her well-publicized defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, Amber Heard now finds herself in the midst of yet another prospective legal dispute, this time in Australia.

The 36-year-old actress is the focus of a "ongoing" perjury investigation in connection with court proceedings that resulted from her infamous trip to Queensland with Johnny Depp in 2015. During that trip, she violated Australia's stringent quarantine and biosecurity laws by failing to declare the former couple's Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, when she boarded a plane into the nation.

Amber Heard Still Being Investigated For Perjury

Heard was charged in July 2015 with two charges of importing the animals unlawfully; however, the case was dismissed in April 2016 when she admitted to falsifying travel paperwork in a Gold Coast court.

But in October 2021, DailyMail.com broke the exclusive story that Australian authorities were looking into Heard for perjury on allegations that she misled to them about the circumstances surrounding the importation of her dogs. This gave the actress's dog-smuggling scandal fresh life.

She apologized for her conduct in a video apology that Amber Heard and Johnny Depp also released. The video was widely criticized on social media, with some fans believing the pair appeared to have been abducted and kept for ransom.

Amber Heard's account of what happened remained uncontested until July 2020, when Johnny Depp's former estate manager testified in writing to London's High Court that he frequently warned the actress about Australia's stringent animal entry laws.

He continued by alleging that when the smuggling problem broke out, Heard made him provide the Australian court a "false statement" claiming she was unaware of the requirements.

According to Queensland's penal code, the former offense can result in a seven-year sentence while perjury has a maximum jail term of 14 years. Although it is doubtful that Australia would seek Heard's extradition, she may still be detained if she sought to re-enter the nation.

The department's inquiry into possible perjury is related to information provided by a former Depp employee during his 2020 UK libel trial against The Sun tabloid. When he testified in court in London that Heard had urged him to lie under oath after she brought the dogs into Queensland on a private flight without disclosing them, Depp's former estate manager Kevin Murphy raised eyebrows in Australia.

Johnny Depp-Amber Heard's Case

Pistol and Boo ought to have been reported to customs and subjected to a 10-day quarantine, but their entry remained unnoticed for a number of weeks until a grooming parlor uploaded pictures of the adorable pair to Facebook. Depp and Heard have 72 hours to return the pups to their owners or risk having them confiscated and put down.

After her attorney, Jeremy Kirk, argued that the paperwork for the dogs had "slipped through the gaps" and that there had been "no intent to deceive," Heard ultimately pled guilty to the less serious charge of forging an immigration document and paid a fine of $7,650.

Kirk claimed that when Heard checked the incorrect box on her arrival card, she believed that her ex-employees husband's had finished the paperwork and was tired and sleep deprived.

After Barnaby Joyce, Australia's then-agriculture minister, threatened to have the dogs put down unless they "buggered off back to the United States," Amber Heard and Johnny Depp had their dogs brought back to the US on a private plane, as per METRO. Heard "made a horrible, awful mistake," according to an attorney.

Meanwhile, if Amber Heard doesn't pay her ex-husband Johnny Depp, she can wind up losing her property, according to reports. After losing the defamation trial, Heard is now responsible for over $8 million in damages.

Per The News, after the 'Aquaman' star filed for bankruptcy, Heard sold her belongings to pay Depp's compensation. According to legal expert Jeremiah Denton, if the actor is unable to pay Depp the damages, the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor may seize her California home. Meanwhile, Heard may be compelled to utilize a costly present from her ex, Elon Musk, a Tesla Model X, to reimburse Depp.