MILAN, Jan 14 (Reuters) - An Italian judge on Wednesday acquitted Italian fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni on charges of fraud over allegedly misleading claims linked to charity sales of a Christmas cake and Easter eggs, judicial and legal sources said.
The trial, held in a Milan court under a fast-track procedure, took place behind closed doors.
Prosecutors had requested a sentence of one year and eight months for aggravated fraud.
"The nightmare is over," Ferragni told reporters.
"I am very happy to take control of my life and get my life back. It has been a very difficult two years. I had faith in justice, and justice has been done," she added.
During a hearing in November, the influencer took the stand and stated that she had acted "in good faith", while her lawyer, Giuseppe Iannaccone, reiterated in his closing argument in December that "Chiara is innocent from every angle of this case. There is no crime."
Ferragni, who has some 28 million followers on Instagram, was fined almost 1.1 million euros ($1.14 million) in 2023 by Italy's competition authority (AGCM) over sales of Ferragni-branded Pandoro Christmas cakes with packaging mentioning a children's hospital.
She also agreed in 2024 to pay at least 1.2 million euros to a children's charity to settle the case concerning sales of Ferragni-branded Easter eggs.
"We remain firmly convinced that this matter has no criminal relevance and that every controversial element has already been addressed and resolved before the AGCM," her lawyers Iannaccone and Marcello Bana said in a statement at the time of her indictment last year.
In the case of the Ferragni-branded Pandoro, the allegation was that consumers had been duped into thinking that by buying those cakes they were contributing to charity for a children's hospital, the Turin-based Regina Margherita paediatric hospital.
Pandoro is an alternative to the more famous panettone.
In the Easter eggs case, the influencer is charged with misleading buyers into thinking they were supporting the "I Bambini delle Fate" children's charity.
Ferragni, who faced a slew of negative publicity and cancelled partnerships with other firms, admitted in December 2023 to "a communications error", while Italy's government, in direct response to the controversy, tightened rules on charity giving.
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Keith Weir)
