Amid conflicting reports about whether Roman Polanski will actually be able to pony up the $4.5 million bail accepted by a Swiss tribunal for his release from jail, there are signs that country’s justice authorities have already inspected Polanski’s “Milky Way” chalet in anticipation of his release, which is expected to occur Monday.According to the Associated Press, “A Hummer bearing the sign in French ‘DR Securite Services’ was parked outside the empty three-story building Saturday morning, while three men and a woman took photographs of the property and spent about an hour inside.”
News that the 76-year-old film director’s lawyers had been granted their bail request came as a surprise last Wednesday. After three of their bond bids had been rejected, it seemed highly unlikely that the fourth time would be the charm, but it was when the auteur offered $4.5 million from a combination of cash, securities and property, in exchange for house arrest at his chalet.
That sum is believed to represent most of Polanski’s personal fortune.
“He is not a rich man,” one source close to the Polanski camp told TheWrap last week on condition of anonymity. Polanski sources were not available for followup comments this weekend.
If he is able to post the bond, Polanski will stay at his chalet wearing a monitoring ankle bracelet (but, apparently, not a GPS tracking device), while he awaits the outcome of a U.S. extradition request that could send him back to Los Angeles to face three-decade-old sexual assault charges involving a 13-year-old girl. One online source indicated that Polanski has actually been released from jail, but that account has not been confirmed.
