THUN (Switzerland) – He arrived when it was 15 minutes past 8: his mother, Margherita Agnelli and his sister, Ginevra Elkann At Court Thursday (Canton of Bern) is the day John Elkanncalled to testify before a judge Amelie Meyers Schürch to a trial where the legality or will of his grandmother must be decided, at least for the sake of Swiss justice, Marella Agnelli Caracciolo.
A final statement of will designating John and his brothers Lapo and Ginevra as the widow’s sole heirs Gianni Agnellinot including his daughter Margherita Pizzamother of the three Elkanns, and his half-sister born from the marriage of the Lawyer’s second daughter with Serge de Pahlen. A complicated legal saga unfolding between Italy (where the civil case is ongoing Turin and the criminal investigation in which John and his two brothers are being investigated for fraud against the State for tax evasion and non-payment of inheritance tax is coming to an end) and Switzerland. However, four civil trials are underway: one in Geneva and three others in Thun.
All these causes are related to the alleged Swiss residence Marella Caracciolo which allowed him to make a will in accordance with the Swiss code which also regulates, in 2004, the settlement agreement and the inheritance agreement with which Margherita and her mother Marella resolved the dispute regarding the billionaire’s inheritance “Mr Fiat”.
However, the lawyer’s daughter disputes that Marella’s residence in Switzerland is actually legal (in fact, anyone claiming to live there must have spent at least six months plus one day abroad). Investigations carried out by Turin prosecutors, in particular, will show that this never happened to the widow Gianni Agnelli: thank you, in particular, for the documents confiscated from the family accounting firm, Gianluca Ferrero (Juventus president and also under investigation in the legacy inquiry) and in the desk drawer of a once helpful secretary Marella Caracciolo and today he is employed by John Elkann.
The trial in Switzerland, which this morning will witness a statement by the president of Stellantis, is called “Thursday 2”, precisely concerns validity of will by Marella Caracciolo from 2011 and two additions (the last from 2014 and the lawyer’s widow died on 23 February 2019): all documents created by a Swiss notary Urs von Grunigenis also being investigated in Turin. A civil action was initiated by the three Elkann brothers against their mother to have the full validity of the action reaffirmed by the Swiss judicial system.
But now, the entire case as well as the possible outcome of the trial in Switzerland could be influenced by the Italian criminal matter and its recent developments. John Elkann and his two brothers actually paid in September 183 million euros to the Italian Revenue Agency. I don’t know how to accept that inheritance tax (and also some tax evasion) related to grandmother’s assets, reconstructed by prosecutors and Financial Policeis due to the Italian tax authorities. In return, the president of Stellantis gets favorable opinion from the Turin prosecutor’s office at his request to “tested“at the Salesian school as a tutor and trainer. If this is the case (the investigating judge must decide by November 28) Elkann’s crimes will disappear after 10 months of socially useful work.
Will all this, and especially prosecutors’ “intelligence and deception” reconstruction of Marella Caracciolo’s alleged family residence in Switzerland, have an impact on Thun’s trial? In fact, the Swiss judge must first say whether he believes that the question of the validity of the will is included in the question Swiss jurisdiction or, considering everything that has arisen in Italy, it will have to be decided in the ongoing civil trial in Turin which will resume in early December.
Since last Monday, the trial of the parties has been taking place at the Thun Court. Four days ago they appeared Margherita Agnelli And Geneva Elkann and, this morning, he will become the heir apparent to “Mr Fiat” who leads the dynasty’s economic empire. Apart from them, both the servants who helped Marella Caracciolo and her old acquaintances who often visited her Villa Wall Paintingsthe Agnelli couple’s Italian residence on the Turin hills.
