Italy targets Prada chiefs in tax probe
MILAN, ITALY - NOVEMBER 22: Patrizio Bertelli (L) and Miuccia Prada (R) attend the 2010 Carlo Porta Award held at Teatro Manzoni on November 22, 2010 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)©Getty
Italian authorities are investigating the personal finances of Prada’s co-chief executives, in the latest example of a crackdown on potential tax evasion that has already ensnared fellow fashion duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.
The Hong Kong-listed fashion group said on Monday that Miuccia Prada Bianchi and Patrizio Bertelli, its chief executives, had been told of an investigation “regarding the accuracy of certain past tax filings by them as individuals in respect of foreign owned companies”.
Prada, which also owns the Miu Miu, Car Shoe and Church’s brands, added that neither the company nor its subsidiaries were involved in the investigation.
The latest probe follows new Italian voluntary disclosure terms designed to encourage companies to return from tax havens in Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands – traditional harbours for assets away from Italy’s notoriously volatile tax regime.
Shares in the fashion house were 1.5 per cent lower at midday in Hong Kong, outperforming the blue-chip Hang Seng index, which was down 1.9 per cent.
In December, Prada struck a deal with the Italian tax authorities to bring the holding company behind the group back from Luxembourg to Italy. Mr Bertelli and Ms Prada paid €400m to tax authorities, according to people familiar with the matter.
Pursuing further investigations against the pair appears to be at odds with an earlier stance from the authorities.
The head of the Italian tax agency, Salvatore Lampone, had previously said that since Prada had paid all the taxes that are due on a voluntary basis, no further investigations should take place.
The more aggressive stance by Italy’s tax collectors comes as the country grapples with a €2tn debt pile and a deep recession. Other families that have already brought assets home including Diego Della Valle, the luxury tycoon behind Tod’s. He is not under investigation.
Apart from Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, Italian police targeted the Marzotto textile dynasty in 2012 and the Bulgari family in 2013, seizing assets in lieu of alleged evasion of taxes. Both families denied any wrongdoing. Investigations are continuing.