Ferragni, Milan Public Prosecutor's Office seeks 1 year 8 months sentence for 'Pandoro Gate'

The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office has requested a sentence of one year and eight months for Chiara Ferragni in connection with the 'Pandoro Gate' and Easter egg affairs. The digital entrepreneur is accused of deceiving consumers with charitable commercial campaigns, obtaining illicit profit and unquantifiable image benefits. The request by public prosecutor Cristian Barilli and deputy prosecutor Eugenio Fusco - who today delivered their indictment before judge Ilio Mannucci Pacini - takes into account the abbreviated rite (which provides for a one-third discount of the sentence). "We have acted in good faith, no one has ever profited," said the digital entrepreneur in a series of spontaneous statements in court.

The influencer arrived very early - and managed to avoid the cameras - to attend the closed hearing. The assistant prosecutor and the public prosecutor also asked for Ferragni's former right-hand man, Fabio Damato, to be sentenced to one year and eight months. One year instead was requested for the owner and CEO of Cerealitalia, Francesco Cannillo. The trial will start again on 19 December when the defence will speak. In the meantime, the Court has admitted the constitution of a civil plaintiff by the Casa del Consumatore, which, with lawyer Aniello Chianese, is claiming compensation but has not yet quantified the amount.

For the prosecution, the influencer would therefore have deceived consumers and obtained, through the two commercial campaigns, an unfair profit of approximately EUR 2.2 million, as well as benefits that cannot be calculated 'from the return of image'. In particular, the 'Balocco' operation would have misled 'an unspecified number of purchasers' convinced that with their Pink purchase (at the price of EUR 9.37 instead of EUR 3.68 of the traditional product) they would have financed fundraising in favour of the Regina Margherita hospital in Turin. The agreement, however, turned out to be different, according to the prosecutor's office: the Ferragni companies cashed in just over one million euro to publicise via Instagram the charity initiative for which the Balocco company had earmarked 50 thousand euro in favour of the hospital, regardless of sales.

An alleged 'communication error' also occurred in the second contested case.