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A popular Italian influencer is under investigation by prosecutors for selling traditional Christmas cakes emblazoned with logos for charity.
Chiara Ferragni, who has 29.5 million followers on Instagram, was already fined €1 million by Italian antitrust authorities last month. Her agency said her company led consumers to believe that sales of the brand’s Barocco Pandoro cakes would lead to charitable donations to hospitals in Turin.
Italian news agency La Presse reported on Monday that Milan prosecutor Eugenio Fusco had placed Mr Ferragni and cake company president Alessandra Barocco under investigation on suspicion of aggravated fraud. A spokesperson for Ferragni confirmed the news.
The development comes after weeks of controversy over the “Pandrogate” scandal and the relationship between influencers and the products they are paid to promote, especially when it involves claims of charitable donations.
After being informed that he was under formal investigation, Ferragni said in a statement on Monday that he remains calm and trusts the work of the judiciary.
“I remain calm because I have always acted with integrity and am confident that the ongoing investigation will bring this to light,” the statement said. “I have full confidence in the work of the law enforcement authorities and the lawyers. I cooperated immediately to ensure that we could clarify what happened as quickly as possible.”
Ferragni started as a fashion blogger and went on to sell clothing, accessories, and makeup under her own brand, in addition to promoting her work as an influencer. She is also a member of the board of directors of Tod’s Luxury Fashion Group.
After being fined by his agency last month, Ferragni posted an Instagram video in which he accused the charity of not doing enough to oversee communications surrounding the sale of Barocco-branded Pandoros, which bear his logo. He stated that he has no intention of linking the company with commercial activities in the future. .
Mr Ferragni apologized and said he would donate 1 million euros to Turin’s Regina Margherita hospital to “materialize” his apology, but said he would contest the fine itself.
Italy’s antitrust authorities also fined Barocco 420,000 euros for giving consumers the impression that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the cake benefited a hospital in Turin. According to the agency, Mr. Barocco had actually donated 50,000 euros before the start of the campaign in November 2022 and made no additional donations.
The agency pointed out that Ferragni branded “Pandoro Pink Christmas” cakes were sold for more than 9 euros each, compared to the regular price of 3.70 euros each.
Emails and phone calls to Cuneo, the Italian-based city of Barocco, were not immediately answered late Monday.