Date set for Dolce & Gabbana's tax evasion trial

Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are to stand trial for tax evasion totalling €416 million. Fashion designing duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana along with six alleged co-conspirators will soon face trial in Milan for criminal tax evasion totally 1 billion euros.

After having been charged then acquitted of tax evasion–then charged again–Dolce & Gabbana, design duo will appear in an Italian court on December 3 2012 The designing duo are accused of evading €416 million of tax in relation to the sale of the Dolce & Gabbana and D&G brands to the designers' Luxembourg-based holding company Gado Srl. The Italian police consider Gado Srl to be a legal body set up to enable the pair to avoid the country's high corporate taxes.

The Guardia di Finanza, an Italian police force under the authority of the national minister of economy and finance, first brought the charges against the pair and five of their business associates in 2007, however, in April 2011 they were dismissed by a lower court, which deemed there was no foundation for a trial. The Italian Supreme Court overturned that decision last November, saying that "tax avoidance, or tax mitigation, on an earnings declaration is a criminal offence under the law," reports WWD . Previously, tax avoidance was not considered a criminal offence

The D&G and Dolce & Gabanna brands were sold to a holding company in Luxembourg in 2004, and prosecutors maintain that this ownership transfer took place explicitly to avoid paying taxes in Italy.

Investigations into the pair's alleged tax evasion began in 2007, but they were cleared of all charges. In November, a higher court overturned the not-guilty verdict, opening up the possibility of a new investigation.

The acquittal on charges of tax fraud remains intact, but the current case challenges the previous ruling of tax elusion and goes after Dolce, Gabanna, and six other for tax evasion--using illegal methods to avoid paying taxes.

Celebrity tax evasion cases, like Luciano Pavarotti's 10 million euro of back taxes settled in 2000, are typically settled outside of court to avoid negative press. If the Dolce and Gabanna case proceeds, it will be one of the first of its kind to go to trial

Although neither Dolce & Gabbana have commented on the trial date, both have previously denied any wrongdoing and have claimed they have a clear conscience.

If convicted, the designers and their co-accused business associates could face up to three years in prison, or a fine of up to €1 million.

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Hermès employees found to be in on counterfeit ring

French police have dismantled an international crime ring which produced copies of the luxury fashion house's bags, with several Hermès staff in on the act.

A dozen people were arrested by French police last Thursday as part of the dismantling of an international crime ring which produced fake Hermès bags. Two Hermès employees have been dismissed as a result of the probe, according to WWD back in June of this year, but the luxury goods company believes that current members of staff could also be involved.

It has come as no surprise to Delortae Agency, who have noticed a sharp increase in our own person inspection of an increasingly new breed of sophisticated counterfeits from the iconic brand house.

Starting prices for two of the brand's most iconic bags, the Kelly and the Birkin, start in the several thousand of pounds bracket and are often subject to lengthy waiting lists. Lindsey Lohan, Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham are celebrity collectors of the brand.

Police discovered a workshop filled with precious leather skins and estimated that one branch operated by the ring contained sales worth around €18 million (£14.5 million).

"This operation concludes a one-year investigation following an Hermès complaint based on clues and abnormal behaviour identified through the house's internal monitoring systems," Hermès said in a statement.

The bust follows a ruling in April in which the Hermès was awarded approximately £63 million after winning their case against 34 counterfeit websites.

Hermès chief executive officer Patrick Thomas recently estimated that eighty per cent of objects sold on the internet under the Hermès name are fakes, a statistic he branded "an absolute disgrace".


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