In a significant development, the Turin Prosecutor’s Office has ordered the seizure of assets worth €74.8 million from prominent members of the Agnelli-Elkann family and their associates. The action targets brothers John, Lapo, and Ginevra Elkann, along with Juventus President Gianluca Ferrero and notary Urs Robert Von Grunigen.
The seizure, executed by the Financial Police, comes as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged tax fraud and fraud against the State. The case centers on the inheritance dispute following the death of Marella Caracciolo in 2019, involving her daughter Margherita Agnelli and grandchildren.
Investigators claim to have uncovered evidence of Marella Caracciolo’s actual residence in Italy since 2010, contrary to claims of Swiss residency. This discrepancy forms the basis of accusations regarding a scheme to evade Italian inheritance and tax laws.
The probe has revealed substantial undeclared income and assets. Preliminary estimates suggest €42.8 million in evaded income tax and €32 million in evaded inheritance and gift taxes on an estate valued at over €800 million.
Calcio e Finanza report a statement on the incident, which states:”As part of the criminal proceedings against Gianluca Ferrero, Urs Robert Von Grünigen and brothers John Philip, Lapo Edovard and Ginevra Elkann, the Preliminary Investigations Judge has issued – at the request of this Office – a preventive seizure decree aimed at confiscation, including by equivalent, of financial assets and movable and immovable property up to the amount of approximately €74.8 million,” reads the statement from the Turin Prosecutor’s Office.
“Without prejudice to the presumption of innocence of the persons under investigation, as well as the possibility for them to assert, at any stage of the proceedings, their non-involvement in the crimes for which proceedings are being taken, based on the evidence gathered so far, the crimes of fraudulent declaration through other artifices (Article 3 of Legislative Decree No. 74/2000) and fraud against the State (Article 640, second paragraph, number 1, of the Criminal Code) have been contested. The execution of the preventive seizure decree was delegated to the Economic-Financial Police Unit of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza Turin, which – on delegation and under the coordination of this Public Prosecutor’s Office – carried out the complex and articulated investigations that involved this criminal context, relating to the well-known case of the hereditary succession following the death (in February 2019) of Marella Caracciolo and the related family disputes between Margherita Agnelli and her children John Philip, Lapo Edovard and Ginevra Elkann (respectively daughter and grandchildren of the deceased).”
The statement goes on to detail the investigation findings, including evidence of Marella Caracciolo’s actual residence in Italy since at least 2010, despite claims of Swiss residency. It outlines a complex strategy to misrepresent her residency status and avoid Italian inheritance and tax laws. The investigation uncovered undeclared income and assets, leading to estimates of €42.8 million in evaded income tax and €32 million in evaded inheritance and gift taxes on an estate valued at over €800 million.
