MILAN – An Italian judge has seized money and assets worth nearly 75 million euros ($84 million) from five people, including Stellantis (STLAM.MI), and Ferrari (RAS.MI), Chairman John Elkann, as part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud, prosecutors said Friday.
The investigation, which began earlier this year, found that Elkann and his siblings Lapo and Ginevra failed to pay taxes in Italy on assets they inherited after the 2019 death of their grandmother Marella Caracciolo, the wife of late Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli.
The case arose from a broader inheritance dispute between the Elkanns and their mother Margherita over the Gianni Agnelli estate, which has divided one of Italy’s most famous business dynasties.
Prosecutors in the northern city of Turin said in a statement that their investigation found that Caracciolo had been living in Italy, not Switzerland, since at least 2010 and that her inheritance should therefore have been taxed in Italy.
They said the claims that she was living in Switzerland were part of “a criminal plan to hide her considerable assets and related income from Italian inheritance and tax laws.”
Attorneys for the Elkanns said the seizure was a procedural step in the case, which does not mean the defendants are liable.
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“We reiterate that Marella Caracciolo has lived in Switzerland since the early 1970s, long before the Elkann brothers were born. Her will to live in Switzerland has never failed her throughout her life,” the statement said.
Lawyers said they “remain confident that we can prove that our suspects have nothing to do with the acts they are charged with.”
Other people affected by the seizure include John Elkann’s accountant Gianluca Ferrero and Swiss notary Urs von Grunigen, who acted as executor of the estate.
John Elkann is also the CEO of the Agnelli family holding company Exor (EXOR.AS),.
($1 = 0.8957 euros)
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Reporting by Emilio Parodi and Giulio Piovaccari, writing by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Gavin Jones, Crispian Balmer and Diane Craft
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Stellantis Chairman Elkann Targeted for Seizure Over Alleged Tax Fraud
