Turning point in the Pandoro gate, which involves Chiara Ferragni. The Milanese entrepreneur and influencer appeared in court this morning for the hearing in the trial for aggravated fraud for the sale of the products “Pandoro Balocco Pink Christmas, Limited Edition Chiara Ferragni” (Christmas 2022) and “Chiara Ferragni Easter Eggs – let’s support the Children of the Fairies” (Easter 2021 and 2022).
One year and 8 months of imprisonment is the sentence requested by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office for the businesswoman, while the other two requests for punishment, formulated by the deputy prosecutor Eugenio Fusco and the deputy Cristian Barilli, are one year and 8 months for Ferragni’s former right-hand man, Fabio Damato. Finally, Franco Cannillo, president of Cerealitalia-Id (which had marketed Easter eggs with Dolce Preziosi), was asked for a year.
According to the accusation, between 2021 and 2022 Chiara Ferragni would have carried out misleading promotional campaigns on the donation of part of the money obtained from the sale of the products to charity.
The Pandoro-gate case and the investigation into Easter eggs
It was Selvaggia Lucarelli in December 2022 who raised several doubts about the charity initiative born from the partnership between Chiara Ferragni and the company Balocco SpA for a special edition pandoro. In an investigation, published in the newspaper “Domani”, he highlighted the lack of transparency in the promotional campaign and on the actual destination of the funds raised. From what emerged, customers who bought pandoro would have been led to believe they were supporting the Regina Margherita hospital in Turin and research into osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma, in particular the purchase of a new machine, but in reality the amount had already been established previously.
The Pandoro-gate (a term which even entered the Treccani encyclopedia) then exploded following the fine of one million euros by the Antitrust, news which created a great outcry and which led Chiara Ferragni to publish an apology video in which she spoke of a “communication error”. The investigation then also expanded to the Easter egg campaign, the proceeds of which were supposed to go to the “I Bambini delle Fate” association, which takes care of children with disabilities. The Antitrust investigation was then concluded with an agreement which provided for a payment of 1.3 million euros (1.2 million euros by the companies linked to Chiara Ferragni and 100 thousand euros by Cerealitalia) to the association in question.
