Chanel under investigation for evading Turkish customs tax

Luxury French fashion house Chanel is currently the subject of an investigation

carried out by Turkish Customs officers. The fashion house revealed on Monday that it was cooperating with the investigation, but stated that it has not been officially charged and refuted "a number of accusations in the media".

Previously, a number of media outlets in the country, including Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, reported that Chanel was under investigation and accused of importing luxury goods without following proper procedure and customs tax declarations. The newspaper noted that the fashion house could face charges of "systematic smuggling" for its operations in Turkey.

Chanel acknowledged that the investigation involved two former store managers, who worked in stores in Turkey. In 2012, during an internal audit, "serious irregularities and shortcomings" from the management were brought to light.

This lead to the managers direct resignation of the managers, due to non-compliance with the fashion houses internal policies and regulations. "This situation is absolutely exceptional, and since then we have further tightened our controls," stated the company.

The fashion house noted that it "takes the utmost care to comply with the regulations in the countries where we are present, and we remain ready to assist the authorities and the legal system in bringing the facts of this case to light and taking all necessary action".