Italian police seize £40m Bvlgari assets

Italian police have seized €46m worth of Bvlgari assets, including the jeweller’s flagship Roman store, in a tax evasion probe.

Police said their investigations focused on Paolo and Nicola Bvlgari, grandsons of the founder of the jeweller,

Italian Police seized assets worth €46m (£40m) from the upmarket jeweller Bvlgari today in a tax evasion inquiry.

The investigation centres on Paolo and Nicola Bvlgari, sons of the founder of the brand, and Francesco Trapani, the brothers’ nephew and chief executive of the group, as well as their lawyer Maurizio Valentini.

The men are accused of making “fraudulent declarations” in relation to €3bn worth of revenues.

Nicola Bulgari

The police allege the four men made “fraudulent declarations” related to €3bn worth of revenues from 2006 to 2011, before LVMH bought Bvlgari for €3.7bn. The focus of their investigations is the use of holding companies in the Netherlands and Ireland through which the group funnelled revenues, according to the police. No arrests have been made.

A statement from the Bvlgari holding company said it was “extremely surprised” by the allegations. “Bvlgari will take all the necessary steps to clarify its position,” it added.

“The investigations have brought to light a true ‘escape strategy’ to avoid Italian taxes and in particular tougher rules that were introduced from January 1 2006 related to the taxation of dividends,” the police said in a statement.

Bulgari is not the first luxury goods group to come into the sights of the Italian tax police.
Italian police in November confiscated €65m of assets, including a 15th century castle, from the Marzotto family and its business associates over suspected tax evasion connected to the 2007 sale of the Valentino luxury brand.

The Bvlgari family members sold their controlling stake in the Roman house to LVMH in March 2011 in an all-share deal.

LVMH’s offer put about a 60 per cent premium on the company making the deal, which was 10 years in the making, one of the sector’s most expensive.

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