Italian police have seized assets worth 65 million euros ($83.5 million) in a probe into the 5.4 billion euro sale of fashion houses Hugo Boss and Valentino in 2007, a person familiar with the investigation said on Monday
Italy's finance police said in a statement that they had confiscated real estate, land and corporate holdings of 13 people "linked to one of Italy's most important families in the fashion and textile sector."
The person familiar with the investigation told Reuters those 13 people were linked to the Marzotto group, and included members of the Marzotto family. Marzotto sold Valentino Fashion Group - then including both the Valentino label and Hugo Boss - to private finance group Permira in the 2007 deal.
The people under investigation are suspected of not having filed a tax return, the source said.
The Marzotto group was not immediately available for comment.
Police said in a statement that the investigation revealed that a Luxembourg-based holding company used by the Marzotto Group in the sale made a capital gain of nearly 200 million euros, resulting in tax evasion of 65 million euros.
"The investigation...revealed that a financial holding company purposefully created in Luxembourg was instead administered from Italy," said the police in a statement.
Via Reuters
