The designers denied all the charges against them |
Italian
fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been sentenced to
jail in Italy for one year and eight months for tax evasion.
The pair
were not at the trial and deny the charges.
They are
accused of hiding millions of euros from Italian tax authorities.
Dolce and
Gabbana have not yet given a public comment on the sentence and are likely to
appeal the verdict. They are said to be unlikely to go to jail any time soon.
Their
customers have included Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Bryan Ferry.
The investigation
by the Italian authorities began around six years ago as part of a government
plan to crack down on tax avoidance.
At the
hearing on Wednesday, the judge ruled that the designers moved their brand to a
Luxembourg-based holding company Gado in 2004.
He said
they had done this to avoid declaring taxes on royalties of around 1 billion
euros (£833m; $1.3bn).
Prosecutors
alleged they sold the business for well below actual market value.
They were
initially cleared of the charges at a previous trial in April 2011 but Italy's
highest court overturned that ruling, ordering that the case should be sent
back.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.