Italian police seize $23M in assets linked to Bond co-star Ursula Andress

Italian authorities have seized assets worth 20 million euros ($23 million) in Florence and its surrounding areas, believed to have been purchased with money fraudulently taken from iconic actress Ursula Andress, the country’s financial police announced Thursday.

The extensive seizure operation followed an investigation triggered by Andress’s report to Swiss authorities that she had been defrauded by her financial advisers. The confiscated items include luxury real estate, artworks, vineyards, olive groves, and various financial assets.

Andress, now 90 years old and widely recognized as the first Bond girl for her role as Honey Ryder in the 1962 film “Dr. No,” revealed to Swiss newspaper Blick earlier this year that she had lost approximately 18 million Swiss francs (about 20 million euros) through the deception, which allegedly took place over an eight-year period. According to the newspaper report, the financial adviser primarily responsible has since died.

“I am still in shock,” Andress was quoted as saying in the interview. “I was deliberately chosen as a victim. For eight years, I was courted and wooed. They lied to me shamelessly and exploited my goodwill in a perfidious, indeed criminal, way in order to take everything from me. They took advantage of my age.”

Italian investigators discovered a complex money-laundering operation where the stolen funds were initially invested in foreign companies before being used to purchase assets. The transactions were deliberately structured to obscure the origins of the money, creating a sophisticated trail that took significant effort to unravel.

The seized assets include 11 real estate properties and 14 plots of agricultural land currently being used for vineyards and olive cultivation in Florence and throughout the picturesque Tuscan countryside. Authorities have not disclosed whether any arrests have been made in connection with the case.

The case highlights the vulnerability of aging celebrities to financial exploitation, an increasingly common problem as wealthy public figures enter their later years. Financial abuse of the elderly has become a growing concern worldwide, with many cases going unreported due to victims’ embarrassment or reluctance to acknowledge they’ve been deceived.

Andress rose to international fame with her iconic entrance in “Dr. No,” emerging from the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini with a knife strapped to her hip—a scene that has been ranked as one of the most memorable moments in cinema history. Her career continued to flourish through the 1960s with roles alongside major stars including Elvis Presley in “Fun in Acapulco” and the Hollywood legends Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in “Four for Texas.”

After her initial Hollywood success, Andress transitioned primarily to European cinema and television, building a significant career across multiple countries before retiring from acting in the early 2000s. Born in Switzerland, she maintained international residences throughout her career, which may have complicated her financial arrangements and potentially made her more vulnerable to sophisticated financial schemes.

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to determine if additional assets connected to the fraud can be identified and recovered.