The Surprising Twist in Dolce & Gabbana’s Appeals Case.

• The Dolce& Gabbana tax evasion case has taken an unexpected turn in appeals. Last June, the pair was sentenced to a year and eight months in prison plus legal fees, along with their accountant Luciano Patelli. Now, the prosecutor in their appeals hearings,  Gaetano Santamaria is calling the original case “groundless,” and is pushingfor the acquittal of Dolce & Gabbana. According to Santamaria, “creative minds” like theirs are “totally taken by their models, their fabrics and events… I just don’t see them dealing with bills and schemes to cut their tax rate,” adding that the act of selling their label to Luxembourg-based company Gado Srl wasn’t illegal. “As per the Cassazione [Italy’s equivalent of the Supreme Court] and the European Community, there is no regulation that forbids such a restructuring, nor the choice of a country, according to the free circulation of capitals in the market. These are sacred principles.” He continued, “They choose the Bourse in Luxembourg because it is the most vivacious in Europe, because its fiscal legislation attracts capitals, it has an efficient public administration and, yes, it offers fiscal benefits but it is legitimate to optimize them.” He asserted that it can’t be proven that the sale of Dolce &Gabbana to Gado was executed in order to avoid taxes. “When I heard that they [the designers] had been condemned to a year and a half, I thought, ‘Wow, they must have really done something serious.’”, Santamaria said. “But then I realized that they did not actually manage the company, they signed the deals because they were the owners, but never actively intervened.” (WWD)