Taxes and executives, Sgarbi acquitted of charges in Rome

Tax and Paintings: Sgarbi Acquitted in Rome

“No case to answer.” This was the verdict of the preliminary hearing judge in Rome in the trial against the former Undersecretary of Culture, Vittorio Sgarbi, and his partner Sabrina Colle, accused of fraudulent evasion of tax payments. Sgarbi he had a debt with the Revenue Agency for approximately 715 thousand euros.

Prosecutors had requested a trial for Sgarbi, claiming that he had purchased a painting at auction in 2020, making it appear that it had been purchased by his partner with money from a third party, with the intent of avoiding possible tax seizures. The legal proceedings began in 2023. The matter had come to the attention of the magistrates of Piazzale Clodio, who specialize in tax crimes, and concerned the purchase of a work by the artist Vittorio Zecchin by Sgarbi's partner for around 148 thousand euros. According to the prosecution, the real buyer was Sgarbi himself.

Sgarbi has always contested this reconstruction, also claiming to have a plan to pay off the debt with the revenue authorities. The purchase of the 1913 painting “The Garden of the Fairies”, according to Sgarbi, would have been possible thanks to the generosity of the late Corrado Sforza Fogliani, a cassation lawyer and banker.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the purchase was intended to protect the work from possible actions by the Revenue Agency, configuring the crime of fraudulent evasion of tax payment according to Article 11 of Law 74 of 2000. However, the judge deemed these accusations unfounded, acquitting the defendants.

“The preliminary hearing judge’s decision leaves us fully satisfied,” commented Giampaolo Cicconi, Sgarbi’s lawyer, “hoping that today a legal case that has caused suffering to my client and his partner will be closed.”