Prada Says Not Aware of Italian Probe Into Alleged Tax Evasion

MILAN, Italy — Prada SpA said it isn't aware of being investigated by Italian authorities after a newspaper reported Milan prosecutors opened a probe into tax evasion.

Chairman Miuccia Prada, Chief Executive Officer Patrizio Bertelli and accountant Marco Salomoni have been named in the probe, which is for possible undeclared or false tax claims, newspaper Corriere della Sera reported today without saying where it got the information.

Lawyers for Milan-based Prada said documents regarding the allegations have been submitted to prosecutors. “As it stands we are not aware of there being an investigation,” Stefano Simontacchi and Guido Alleva said in an e-mailed statement.

“In any case, the new rules which are expected to enter into force regarding voluntary disclosure should be considered applicable to the present case, thereby leading to decriminalization,” the lawyers said.

Prada agreed to relocate holding companies in the Netherlands and Luxembourg to Italy and pay backdated tax following negotiations with Italian fiscal authorities, the company said on Dec. 20. There’s no litigation at the moment and the company has a different interpretation of the rules concerning foreign holdings, Chief Financial Officer Donatello Galli said at the time.

A person who answered a phone call to the office of Milan prosecutor Adriano Scudieri said he wasn’t immediately available for comment.

By Andrew Roberts, with assistance from Sonia Sirletti; Editors: Robert Valpuesta, Dan Liefgreen.