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Italian prosecutors have asked a judge to send Campari chairman Luca Garavoglia to trial over alleged tax evasion of €1.29 billion, a request that keeps a criminal investigation alive despite a separate settlement of the tax dispute involving the drinks group’s controlling shareholder. Prosecutors have also sought trial for Giovanni Berto, legal representative of Luxembourg-based Lagfin, the family holding company that controls Campari.
The request, reported by Reuters on October 8, does not mean either man has been sent to trial or found guilty. A judge must first hold a preliminary hearing and decide whether the case should proceed or be dismissed. The allegation concerns a corporate restructuring and an alleged unpaid exit tax; Campari itself has said the separate tax litigation with Lagfin does not concern the listed company or its subsidiaries.
Judge must decide whether the case proceeds
Prosecutors in Monza allege that Lagfin failed to pay €1.29 billion in exit tax on capital gains connected with the transfer of the group’s ownership structure outside Italy. The investigation identifies alleged undeclared capital gains of €5.3 billion between 2018 and 2020. These are prosecutors’ claims, not findings established by a court.
The next procedural step is a preliminary hearing. A judge will consider whether there is sufficient basis to send Garavoglia and Berto to trial or instead dismiss the case. No date for that hearing was reported on October 8.
Lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone, representing the two men alongside fellow lawyer Nerio Diodà, told Reuters that a trial would establish their innocence. The request for trial is therefore a prosecution step, while the defendants’ position is that they are innocent.
Dispute stems from restructuring and relocation
The case centers on a 2018 merger involving Alicros, the Italian company that controlled Campari, and Lagfin, which was based in Luxembourg and held a majority stake in Alicros. The transaction combined the entities into a single company holding 51% of Campari and moved the structure to Luxembourg, according to the Reuters account.
Prosecutors and Italy’s Guardia di Finanza financial police allege the arrangement was designed to avoid an exit tax on gains when a company moves its fiscal residence abroad. The tax at issue applies to certain gains associated with a company’s relocation. The reported figures—€5.3 billion in alleged gains and €1.29 billion in tax—describe the authorities’ case, not a final assessment of criminal liability.
The allegation led to the confiscation last October of Lagfin shares valued at €1.29 billion, Reuters reported. That measure is distinct from the new request for a trial and from the settlement of the tax dispute. The supplied reporting does not establish that Campari’s operating business or its subsidiaries are defendants in the requested proceedings.
Tax settlement does not end criminal investigation
Lagfin reached an agreement with Italy’s Revenue Agency in December 2025 to pay €405 million in instalments to settle its tax dispute. The settlement resolved the tax matter between Lagfin and the agency, but Italian tax proceedings and criminal investigations are separate processes. As a result, the agreement did not by itself prevent prosecutors from pursuing the criminal case against the individuals.
Lagfin said the case against the company had already been dismissed on statute-of-limitations grounds in July 2026. It said it could not suffer financial loss or prejudice as a result of the proceedings described in the report. That statement concerns Lagfin’s position and does not determine the separate preliminary-hearing decision on whether the individuals will stand trial.
Campari has previously distinguished the company from Lagfin
In a clarification issued in October 2025, Campari said the tax litigation between Lagfin and Italian authorities did not concern Davide Campari-Milano N.V. or its subsidiaries, and that it expected no impact on them. The company’s statement was made in response to earlier media coverage of the tax dispute; it was not a ruling on the criminal allegations against Garavoglia or Berto.
Garavoglia has chaired Campari since 1994 and is the group’s largest shareholder through Lagfin, according to Reuters. The proceedings could therefore bring continued scrutiny to the holding company and its relationship with the listed drinks maker, although the reported allegations concern the disputed restructuring and tax treatment. As of October 8, the judge’s decision on whether to send the two men to trial remained pending.
