Italy's Marzotto family and board members in $72 million tax settlement

MILAN - Members of Italy's Marzotto family and board members at the eponymous fashion and textile group have made a 56 million euro ($72 million) tax payment after an investigation by Italian prosecutors.

The investigation of 13 people alleged to have evaded about 72 million euros of tax related to the the Marzotto group's 5.3 billion euro sale of fashion houses Hugo Boss and Valentino in 2007 was concluded last month.

The tax payment was confirmed by Piero Longo, lawyer for some of the Marzotto family members, on Thursday and could pave the way for criminal proceedings to be dropped.

Marzotto sold Valentino Fashion Group - then including both the Valentino label and Hugo Boss - to private finance group Permira in 2007.

The Marzotto family was not immediately available for comment.