Mural targets Ferragni amid charity-profit furore

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 24 - Top Italian fashion influencer and business woman Chiara Ferragni has been targetted by a mural in Padua depicting her as a thief after coming under heavy fire for allegedly profiting from charity initiatives regarding an Easter egg she endorsed and a "designer" version of the 'pandoro' Italian Christmas cake.
    Milan prosecutors have opened probes into the cases although Ferragni, who is half of what is arguably Italy's top celebrity couple thanks to her marriage with rapper Fedez, has not formally been placed under investigation.
    The mural portrays Ferragni holding a 'pandoro' as she walks hand-in-hand with Fedez under graffiti that says 'Beware Pickpocket'.
    On Monday Ferragni, 36, made a public apology over the 'pandoro' case, which led to the Antitrust authority issuing fines of over one million euros to companies linked to her.
    She said she would donate one million euros to Turin's Regina Margherita children's hospital to show her remorse.
    The competition watchdog said Ferragni and Italian confectionery company Balocco had led customers to understand that, by purchasing the 'designer' pandoro, they would have contributed to a donation to the hospital.
    The donation of 50,000 euro had, instead, already been made by Balocco on its own months earlier.
    Premier Giorgia Meloni blasted Ferragni over the case, without directly saying her name, during a speech last week.
    A second case then emerged regarding an Easter Egg produced Dolci Preziosi that allegedly earned her far more than the amount that actually went to the good cause in question.
    Ferragni, who has a massive online following, has vanished from social media after posting her video apology on December 18.
    Fedez, however, has reappeared, saying that it has been a "tough time" for the couple. (ANSA).