In December 2023, Italy's Competition Authority, the AGCM, fined Ferragni and companies under her control a combined €1.075 million for unfair and misleading commercial practices connected to the Balocco pandoro campaign. The fallout rapidly moved beyond advertising regulation. Ferragni's board position at Tod's ended amid the scandal, Angelini abandoned a planned fragrance line with her, and other commercial partnerships began disappearing. Her manager and business executive Fabio Maria Damato was blamed in the public dispute for communications and management failures and was terminated in June 2024. The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office accused Ferragni and Damato of aggravated fraud, and in January 2025 Ferragni was sent to trial. The later legal outcome was narrower than the original accusation: in January 2026, a judge ruled that prosecutors had not established the aggravating circumstances required for aggravated fraud. Because the remaining simple-fraud case depended on a complaint that had been withdrawn, and because Ferragni paid €3.4 million in restitution to the parties involved, she and Damato were acquitted on that charge. The scandal nevertheless caused severe reputational and financial damage, including reported losses of €5.7 million in companies associated with Ferragni, and prompted Italy to enact the so-called Ferragni Law in 2024, imposing stricter rules on influencers with more than one million followers and their advertising claims.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 2020s
From Digital Darling to Criminal Defendant: The Legal and Corporate Ruin of Pandorogate
Chiara Ferragni, Fenice, TBS Crew, Balocco, and Fabio Maria Damato / 2020s
In December 2023, Italy's Competition Authority, the AGCM, fined Ferragni and companies under her control a combined €1.075 million for unfair and misleading commercial practices connected to the Balocco pandoro campaign. The fallout rapidly moved beyond advertising regulation. Ferragni's board position at Tod's ended amid the scandal, Angelini abandoned a planned fragrance line with her, and other commercial partnerships began disappearing. Her manager and business executive Fabio Maria Damato was blamed in the public dispute for communications and management failures and was terminated in June 2024. The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office accused Ferragni and Damato of aggravated fraud, and in January 2025 Ferragni was sent to trial. The later legal outcome was narrower than the original accusation: in January 2026, a judge ruled that prosecutors had not established the aggravating circumstances required for aggravated fraud. Because the remaining simple-fraud case depended on a complaint that had been withdrawn, and because Ferragni paid €3.4 million in restitution to the parties involved, she and Damato were acquitted on that charge. The scandal nevertheless caused severe reputational and financial damage, including reported losses of €5.7 million in companies associated with Ferragni, and prompted Italy to enact the so-called Ferragni Law in 2024, imposing stricter rules on influencers with more than one million followers and their advertising claims.
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