Fraudulent bankruptcy. This is the hypothesis formulated by the Florentine prosecutor for the crash of the Verdi ex Rifle company, a historic jeans and casual fashion company from Barberino di Mugello (Florence), and of G.Brand, in the notice of conclusion of the investigation notified in recent days to the entrepreneur Sandro Fratini and his son Giulio.
Among the suspects, thirteen other people including directors and statutory auditors who have succeeded over the years. Among the episodes of dissipation and distraction contested by the two, there is in 2015, the sale of the Rifle brands, owned by Verdi, (declared bankruptcy in 2020) to the company C.Brand, managed by Giulio Fratini «at the incongruous price of 2,300. 000 euros”.
«Trademarks – reads the indictment – which G.Brand subsequently granted for valuable use first to Verdi and then to Rifle and which after G.Brand’s bankruptcy in 2022, were sold for 5 million euros».
At that time, Verdi was already in a state of insolvency, with liabilities of over nine million euros. Auditors, according to the indictment, would have issued a favorable opinion for the approval of the 2017 and 2018 financial statements of G.Brand, without carrying out checks and requesting information from the directors on every aspect of the corporate activity and on matters of significant gravity and would not have reported irregularities in court.