Italian fashion designers Domenoic Dolce and
Stefano Gabbana, the creative designers of the D&G brand Dolce & Gabbana
were yesterday June 19th sentenced to one year and eight months in prison
by an Italian court after being found guilty of tax evasion. They were
also fined €500,000.
The multimillionaire designers were accused of hiding millions of euros
from Italian tax authorities, charges they deny and have said they
intend to appeal against any conviction.
Italian authorities are accusing them of moving their brand to a
Luxembourg-based holding company Gado - in 2004, so they could avoid
declaring taxes on royalties of about 1 billion euros.
The Italian authorities have been investigating the designers for about
six years now and they were actually cleared of tax evasion/fraud
charges at a previous
trial in April 2011 but Italy's highest court overturned that ruling,
ordering that the case be sent back to trial.
However, Their sentences have been suspended pending their appeal.
Posted by
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14:52
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