Milan – It was one of the most closely watched court hearings of the year in the Lombard capital. In the trial for alleged fraud in connection with commercial charity campaigns, the Milan public prosecutor's office announced its demand on Monday: Chiara Ferragni should receive one year and eight months in prison. The charge is serious: aggravated fraud („truffa aggravata“) in connection with the marketing of Balocco's „Pandoro Pink Christmas“ and Dolci Preziosi's Easter eggs in 2021 and 2022.
Prosecutors Eugenio Fusco and Christian Barilli consider it proven that the influencer used her enormous reach of over 28 million followers to disguise purely commercial operations as charitable initiatives. According to the investigations by the financial police, this „concealment“ is said to have generated unjustified profits of around 2.225 million euros. The core of the accusation is that consumers were misled by misleading video messages and communication into buying products at inflated prices, believing that they were doing good – an assumption that, according to the indictment, did not correspond to the reality of the contractual agreements.
„Everything done in good faith“
Since the proceedings are taking place under the so-called abbreviated procedure („rito abbreviato“), the sentence sought already includes an automatic reduction of one-third of the penalty. In addition to Ferragni, her former close confidant Fabio Maria Damato (also facing one year and eight months) and entrepreneur Francesco Cannillo (facing one year) are also facing convictions.
Chiara Ferragni appeared in court in person, but avoided the media hype by arriving through a side entrance. In a spontaneous statement before the chamber, she vehemently defended her actions. „Everything we did, we did in good faith. None of us wanted to enrich ourselves,“ the entrepreneur emphasized. She referred to her career and past, actual charity projects. Upon leaving the courthouse, she was taciturn but confident toward waiting journalists.
Decision in the new year
The court also admitted the consumer protection association „Casa del consumatore“ as a civil party, which argues that the separation of sales proceeds and donations caused damage to the deceived customers.
The legal tug-of-war is not over yet. On December 19, the defense will present its case to prove the influencer's innocence. A final verdict in the Ferragni case is expected in January. Until then, it remains to be seen whether the court will follow the prosecutor's hard line or listen to the defense's arguments.
