One of Italy’s most powerful influencers said she was feeling “calm” after being placed under investigation for fraud in a case linked to a Christmas cake charity initiative.
Prosecutors in Milan opened an investigation into Chiara Ferragni, who in more than a decade as a fashion influencer has amassed an estimated €40m fortune and 29.5 million followers, after she was fined €1m by Italy’s anti-trust authority in December.
The agency said consumers had been duped into believing that by buying a Ferragni-endorsed pandoro cake, an alternative to panettone produced by the Piedmont-based company Balocco, they were donating to a hospital in Turin.
Both Ferragni and the head of the cake company, Alessandra Balocco, are being investigated for aggravated fraud. Balocco was also fined €420,000 by the anti-trust agency for misleading consumers. She had given €50,000 to the Turin hospital before launching the campaign and made no further donations. She reportedly raised £1m from the cake sales.
The investigation follows weeks of debate in Italy over the power of influencers and the money made out of products they promote, especially when presented as a charitable initiative.
Ferragni, who has lost 200,000 followers since the cake scandal emerged, said in a statement: “I am calm because I have always acted in good faith and I am certain that this will emerge from the ongoing investigation. I have full confidence in the work of the judiciary and with my lawyers.”
In a near-tearful video in December, Ferragni admitted a “communication error” and said she would make a €1m donation to the Turin hospital.
Ferragni, 36, started her career after launching a fashion blog called The Blonde Salad in 2009. The blog was so successful that she dropped out of a law degree at Milan’s prestigious Bocconi university, instead selling clothing and accessories under her own brand alongside her work as an influencer.
She is married to the rapper Fedez and the couple have often clashed with Italy’s far-right leaders. In December, the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, referred to the cake scandal during her far-right Brothers of Italy party’s annual festival, Atreju. She said: “The real models to follow are not the influencers who make a lot of money by wearing clothes and showing bags … or even promoting expensive cakes that make people believe they are charitable.”
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