Italy's high court to rule on highly publicized Dolce&Gabbana tax evasion case

An Italian prosecutor has demanded that Italy's high court uphold a tax evasion conviction against Milan designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

The high Court of Cassation in Rome is expected to issue its decision Friday in the highly publicized case that led the designers, mainstays of the fashion scene, to shut down their Milan stores for several days last year.

The designers were convicted of failing to declare to Italian authorities 200 million euros ($268 million) through a Luxembourg company. An appeals court reduced the sentence by two months to 1 ½ years.

Defense lawyer Massimo Dinoia argues their acquittal on the more serious charge of misrepresenting income of 416 million euros indicated their innocence. He also notes that the prosecutor in the original trial had argued for dismissal.