The Milan Prosecutor’s Office has requested that Chiara Ferragni be sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for fraud, as part of preliminary proceedings concerning misleading advertising for the traditional Italian dessert “Pandoro” and the Easter eggs “Dolci Preziosi”, which had been presented as products connected to charitable actions.
Specifically, during the preliminary hearing before Judge Ilio Mannucci Pacini, the prosecution maintained that the promotional campaigns for these products between 2021 and 2022, carried out through the influencer’s company, were portrayed as being linked to two separate charitable initiatives, although this did not fully reflect reality.
Alongside Ferragni, Deputy Prosecutor Eugenio Fusco requested the same sentence for her former close associate, Fabio Maria Damato. For Francesco Cannillo, president of Cerealitalia, a sentence of one year was requested.
The next hearing has been scheduled for 5 December. According to Italian media, between fines imposed by the Italian Competition Authority and compensation claims, Chiara Ferragni has already paid a total of €3.4 million, even before the court has entered the substantive phase of the trial.
The three defendants have requested to be tried under the fast-track procedure, which provides for a reduction of the sentence by one third. The overall sentence may also be reduced due to the compensation already paid and the fact that all of them have clean criminal records.
Chiara Ferragni was present in the courtroom on Tuesday morning (25/11), having entered before the official opening in order to avoid photographers.
In a brief statement, she stressed:
“Everything we did, we did in good faith.”
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