By Emilio Parodi
MILAN (Reuters) -Italian tax police said on Friday they had seized shares worth 1.29 billion euros ($1.5 billion) from the holding company that controls Italian drinks group Campari, over alleged tax evasion.
The Luxembourg-based holding company, Lagfin SCA, was not immediately available for comment.
Campari said it was not involved in the case and neither were any of its subsidiaries.
However, according to the seizure order seen by Reuters, Campari Chairman Luca Garavoglia is among those under investigation for fraudulent tax returns, in addition to Lagfin SCA as a company.
Garavoglia’s lawyers have not yet replied to a written request for comment.
Milan prosecutors last year launched a criminal probe after checks by the Guardia di Finanza police uncovered around 1 billion euros of allegedly unpaid taxes from 2018-2020, owed by Lagfin.
The investigation was then transferred to the nearby public prosecutor’s office in the city of Monza, which ordered Friday’s seizure of shares.
Last year, Lagfin said in a press release that “the company has always fulfilled its tax obligations … in all the jurisdictions where it operates, and considers any potential objection to be devoid of any basis.”
Police said in their statement on Friday they had found 5.3 billion euros of undeclared capital gains on which the company failed to pay a so-called “exit tax”, levied on firms that transfer their fiscal headquarters abroad.
The capital gains stemmed from a merger between Lagfin and its Italian subsidiary, which owned a controlling stake in Campari.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Additional reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Gavin Jones)
