Ferragni says she will fight to prove her innocence in case over misleading charity claims.
Italian influencer Chiara Ferragni has been ordered to stand trial in a case of alleged fraud involving the sale of charity Christmas cakes and Easter eggs.
Milan prosecutors on Wednesday indicted the social media influencer and entrepreneur on charges of alleged aggravated fraud in relation to the so-called Pandorogate case.
Ferragni, 37, denies any wrongdoing and has vowed to prove her innocence in court.
The social media star is accused of profiting handsomely from charity drives involving the sale of the "designer" pandoro, produced by Balocco, and chocolate Easter eggs produced by Dolci Preziosi.
"I sincerely believed that it was not necessary to hold a trial to prove that I never cheated anyone" - Ferragni said in a statement on Wednesday - "I will unfortunately have to live with this accusation, which I consider deeply unfair, for some time yet, but I am ready to fight with even greater determination to prove my absolute innocence."
In December 2023, the Italian antitrust authority fined Ferragni more than €1 million for misleading consumers into thinking that their purchases of a pricey pandoro cake would help to fund medical equipment for a children's hospital in Turin.
The pink pandoro went on sale in Italy in 2022 with a price tag of €9, more than double the normal retail price of unbranded cakes made by confectioner Balocco.
The competition authority handed a fine of €420,000 to Balocco which it found had made a one-off donation of €50,000 to the hospital months in advance of the pandoro going on the market.
The authority also found that two Ferragni-controlled companies received promotional fees of around €1 million, none of which was handed over to the children's hospital.
At the time, Ferragni responded with an emotional video in which she apologised for the pandoro case, admitting to a "communication error" but claiming it was a "mistake made in good faith".
A similar case involving Ferragni-branded Easter eggs in support of I Bambini delle Fate, an association that helps children with autism, allegedly earned the social media star far in excess of the amount that was given to the charitable cause.
After reaching an agreement with the antitrust authority, Ferragni paid the Bambini delle Fate association €1.2 million.
In the wake of the controversy, Ferragni donated €1 million to the Regina Margherita children's hospital in Turin and vowed to keep business and charity "completely separate" in the future.
The trial is set to begin in Milan in September.
Photo credit: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com.
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