Sawt Falasteen - Prosecutors seek jail for Italian influencer Ferragni in fraud case

The Instagram star and businesswoman has been on trial since September for aggravated fraud over promotions of a pandoro cake -- a Christmas treat similar to a panettone -- and Easter eggs, which purported to raise money for charity or social causes.

The 38-year-old, who is based in Milan, told the court during the closed-door hearing Tuesday that she denied the charges and had always acted "in good faith", her lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone said.

Leaving the audience, Ferragni told a throng of journalists that she felt "confident... I can't say anymore".

A verdict is expected in January.

Aggravated fraud carries a jail term of between one and five years.

But Ferragni has chosen a fast-track trial, which gives defendants a sentence reduction -- meaning she cannot receive more than a maximum penalty of two years and three months, according to a source close to her team.

In Italy, people sentenced to prison for less than two years rarely serve jail time.

- Trailblazer -

Ferragni started out with a fashion blog, The Blonde Salad, in 2009, and in 2017 Forbes magazine named her its top fashion influencer.

Chronicling her glamorous lifestyle and being paid to promote high-end brands, she built the blog into a lucrative business, then used it as a springboard to launch her own eponymous label with stores around the world.

Her trailblazing story even became a Harvard Business School example of how social media fame can be monetised.

But the fraud accusations have hit her reputation and her endorsements.

Outside court for a hearing earlier this month, Ferragni acknowledged to journalists that it was a "difficult phase of my life".

The allegations relate in part to Ferragni's 2022 endorsement of a pandoro cake purportedly to raise funds for children undergoing treatment at a Turin hospital.

In December 2023, Italy's communications watchdog (AGCOM) fined two of Ferragni's companies one million euros ($1.2 million) for unfair commercial practices for the "Pandoro Pink Christmas" promotion -- around the same sum they had made in the deal.

Shoppers were led to believe that buying the special edition cake made by Balocco would benefit the hospital, but it only received a single 50,000-euro donation from the company.

Balocco was fined 420,000 euros at the same time.

AGCOM also investigated Ferragni-branded Easter eggs from 2021 and 2022, linked to a social enterprise initiative.

Ferragni and her husband, rapper and music producer Fedez, who were one of Italy's most famous celebrity couples, split in 2024.

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST