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Italian influencer investigated over Christmas cake charity scheme

Prosecutors say consumers duped into believing they were helping Turin hospital by buying cake endorsed by Chiara Ferragni

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. 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.

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