Dolce & Gabbana Could Face Criminal Trial, Jail Time for Tax Evasion
The story that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were being investigated for tax evasion first broke in 2009, but on March 25, the designers could really start to find themselves in hot water.
According to the New York Times, prosecutors in Milan have accused the designers and their company of failing to pay taxes on more than $1 billion in income and defrauding the Italian revenue agency—the latter of which could warrant a criminal trial.
The design duo were accused of tax evasion for activity going back to the 2004 sale of the Dolce & Gabbana and D&G brands to a Luxembourg-based holding company called Gado, which (stay with us here) was owned by a company that was then owned by a company controlled by the designers.
Prosecutors in Milan are alleging that this chain was a “criminal design” to defraud the state, according to the Times. The so-called “dummy company” ploy is the fraud that makes this legal situation trickier than your average tax evasion, which can be settled out of court with the payment of a fine.
If convicted, the Times reports, Dolce and Gabbana could face a sentence of up to seven years.
Get the full story at NYTimes.com.
