Chiara Ferragni acquitted on Pandorogate: the scam is extinct

The judge, Ilio Mannucci Pacini, was also called upon to decide on the fate of Ferragni's co-defendants, Fabio Damato, the former manager of the companies that owned Ferragni's image and at the time the 38-year-old's right-hand man, for whom the same sentence was requested, and the CEO and president of Cerealitalia-ID, Francesco Cannillo (one year was the prosecutor's request). According to the reconstruction by the Milanese magistrates, the two commercial operations were 'disguised' as charitable initiatives, obtaining for the influencer an 'unfair profit' estimated at EUR 2.225 million, plus other non-calculable benefits linked to the 'return of image'.

Judge Ilio Mannucci Pacini, therefore:

1) could grant the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office if it considered that the fraud perpetrated by Ferragni's consumers and followers on the alleged misleading advertising linked to philanthropy to support the purchase of a new machine with which to explore therapeutic treatments in children suffering from Osteosarcoma and Ewing's Sarcoma for the Regina Margherita Hospital of Turin to be financed with Balocco Panders and to support the Association 'Bambini delle Fate' with 'Dolci Preziosi' Easter eggs produced by Cerealitalia-ID;

2) could acquit on the merits of the charge;

3) or, as was the case, not recognising the existence of the aggravating circumstance and acquitting the influencer with a judgment of non-prosecution of the charge of simple fraud by virtue of the damages that led to the dismissal of the lawsuit. In the absence of a complaint, the offence is no longer prosecutable.

Chiara Ferragni said after the sentence: 'We are all moved, I thank everyone, my lawyers and my followers'. She was visibly emotional, overwhelmed by cameras, reporters and photographers, just outside the courtroom. "A nightmare is over: I am very happy to take back my life, it has been two very hard years. I had faith in justice and justice has been done'.

Ferragni has always maintained that she is innocent. It was at most a case of misleading advertising, due to errors in communication and for which he has already closed the administrative front - with Agcm - by paying compensation totalling 2.2 million euro for Pandoro and Easter Eggs plus a donation of one million euro, Ferragni's lawyers, Giuseppe Iannaccone and Marcello Bana, pointed out in the hearing on 19 December 2025 at the Milan court.

The acquittal also concerned Chiara Ferragni's co-defendants, i.e. her right-hand man at the time, Fabio Damato, and the president of Cerealitalia, Francesco Cannillo, because if the trial should not be held for Ferragni, it should not be held for them either.