Italian police seize €46m Bulgari assets Italian police have seized €46m worth of Bulgari assets, including one of the jeweller's premier properties in Rome, in a tax evasion probe. Police said their investigations focused on Paolo and Nicola Bulgari, sons of the founder of the jeweller, which is now owned by LVMH, as well as Francesco Trapani, their nephew and long-time chief executive of the group, and Maurizio Valentini, their lawyer. Mr Trapani is now chairman of LVMH watches and jewellery and a member of the LVMH board of directors. The police allege the four men made "fraudulent declarations" related to €3bn worth of revenues from 2006 to 2011, before LVMH bought Bulgari for €3.7bn, that were funnelled through holding companies in the Netherlands and Ireland. No arrests have been made. None of the four named in the probe was immediately available to comment. "The investigations have brought to light a true "escape strategy" to avoid Italian taxes and in particular tougher rules that were introduced from January 1 2006 related to the taxation of dividends," the police said in a statement. The Bulgari family members sold their controlling stake in the Roman house to LVMH in March 2011 in an all-share deal. LVMH's offer put about a 60 per cent premium on the company making the deal, which was 10 years in the making, one of the sector's most expensive. The agreement saw the Bulgari family getting two seats on the board of LVMH. Italian police in November confiscated €65m of assets, including a 15th century castle, from the Marzotto family and its business associates for suspected tax evasion connected to the 2007 sale of the Valentino luxury brand.