Ferrari chairman John Elkann is one of five people whose assets have been seized by an Italian judge, amid an investigation into alleged tax fraud involving the executive’s family.
Reuters reports Mr Elkann – who also chairs automotive conglomerate Stellantis – and two of his siblings have been accused of not paying tax in Italy on almost €75 million ($123 million) worth of assets they inherited in 2019 following the death of their grandmother, Marella Caracciolo.
Ms Caracciolo was the wife of Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli, who turned the brand his own grandfather founded into an industrial powerhouse in the 1960s, which included being a parent company to Ferrari.
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John Elkann
According to the news outlet, there’s currently a dispute between the Elkann siblings (John, Lapo and Ginevra) and their mother Margherita Agnelli regarding who stands to inherit the estate of Gianni Agnelli, following his death in 2003 and the passing of his wife Marella in 2019.
Ms Agnelli reportedly inherited €1.2 billion ($1.97 billion) after her father Gianni’s death, though only after signing a “Geneva pact” with her mother which waived her future influence in the company Dicembre, which controls Exor – the Dutch holding company for the Agnelli family, of which John Elkann is the CEO.
The basis of the dispute stems from Ms Agnelli wanting the pact to be rescinded so her five other children from a later marriage can also attain a share of their maternal grandparent’s estate, as well as previously undeclared wealth from Gianni Agnelli to be distributed among the family.
Gianni Agnelli (left) with Enzo Ferrari (right)
An investigation by Turin prosecutors has found Ms Caracciolo was a resident of Italy from at least 2010, not Switzerland – meaning the inheritance should be taxed in Italy, resulting in the temporary seizure of the money and assets.
According to Reuters, the prosecutors allege Ms Caraccilo’s claims that she was Swiss-based formed the part of “a criminal plan to hide her substantial assets and related income from Italian inheritance and tax laws”.
“We reiterate that Marella Caracciolo had been resident in Switzerland since the early 1970s, well before the Elkann brothers were born,” lawyers for the Elkann siblings said in a statement. “Her will to reside in Switzerland has never failed throughout her life.”
Additional people affected by the asset seizure include John Elkann’s accountant Gianluca Ferrero, as well as Swiss estate executor Urs von Grunigen.
