Dolce & Gabbana Won't Survive if a Tax Fraud Conviction is Forced to Pay $527 Million in Fine

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Italian fashion duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana say their world-famous Dolce & Gabbana business won’t survive if a tax fraud conviction is upheld and they have to pay a €400mn ($527mn) fine.

In June an Italian court sentenced Dolce and Gabbana to 1 year and 8 months in prison for tax evasion of almost a billion euros.  Prosecutors argued that the pair had evaded taxes on income of €416m each and €200m through a Luxembourg-based company, the Guardian reports.  A court has agreed to give them  suspended 20-month sentences if they  pay a €400 million fine.

The designers who have always denied the charges are due to appeal the ruling.

“We will close. What do you think we could do? We will close. We would not be able to resist. Impossible,” said the designers, when the Corriere della Sera newspaper asked what they would do if the multimillion-dollar fine is confirmed. "We're the good guys that have been creating clothes. We live in Italy and pay taxes here. We are not going to move abroad,” the newspaper quotes  the designers.

On Friday Dolce & Gabbana closed their Milan stores for three days to protest comments by a municipal trade councillor calling them ''notorious tax evaders''. The words "Closed for Indignation" were emblazoned in the windows of the shops, Reuters reports.

The case is one of the few high-profile tax evasion cases to come to light in Italy

Read More.... http://rt.com/business/dolce-gabbana-40mn-euro-fine-523/

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Jail Time for Designers "Dolce and Gabbana" - Tax Evasion

Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been sentenced to jail in Italy for one year and eight months for tax evasion.

They were accused of hiding millions of euros from Italian tax authorities.

The pair, whose customers have included Madonna, Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue, were not at the trial, deny the charges and have appealed.

Dolce and Gabbana have not commented on their sentences, which have been suspended pending their appeal.

The investigation by the Italian authorities began around six years ago as part of a government plan to crack down on tax avoidance.

At the hearing on Wednesday, the judge ruled that the designers moved their brand to a Luxembourg-based holding company Gado - an anagram of their two surnames - in 2004.

He said they had done this to avoid declaring taxes on royalties of around 1 billion euros (£833m; $1.3bn).

Prosecutors alleged they sold the business for well below actual market value.

They were initially cleared of the charges at a previous trial in April 2011 but Italy's highest court overturned that ruling, ordering that the case should be sent back.

More... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22977174

Law Offices of Jonathan Franklin
Open Evenings and Weekends this Summer
Call Us Now (310) 273-9600   
 http://www.jonathanfranklinlaw.com