Prosecutor tells of 'false accounting' at Parmalat (Italy's "Enron")

The CEOs of Parmelat spent their New Year doing the perp walk, and that's in crime-infested Italy. Ken Lay probably spent his skiing in Aspen, which tells you where the US stands in its ability to police corporate crime.

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A Milan prosecutor today said that there was "clear" evidence of "false accounting" at Parmalat, the crisis-ridden Italian food giant.

In a case that has drawn parallels with the Enron scandal in the US, prosecutor Angelo Curto told Reuters that the situation "is pretty clear ... the cases of false accounting are obvious".


...snip...

The announcement over the missing billions of euros confirmed fears that the company, which nearly defaulted on a €150m bond payment last week, was in worse financial condition than it had disclosed. The €3.9bn black hole also fuelled accusations by ratings agency Standard & Poor's that Parmalat had misled investors.

Parmalat, with annual sales of around €7.5bn, produces and sells milk, yoghurt, juice and other food products in Europe, the US and around the world. The company employs around 30,000 people.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1111912,00.html

looking into their crimes.

I do like the way the current media stories forget that threat.

Indeed I am sure the auditors in Italy are now released awaiting further developments regarding the fraud - who ever heard of an auditor NOT SENDING A CONFIRMATION LETTER TO CONFIRM A $5 BILLION DEPOSIT AT BANK OF AMERICA?

I wish I was on that jury!

:-)

and that the founder of Parmalat is still in jail. Ten billion dollars is missing over the period of a decade, with the Bank of America being questioned, as well as banks in South American and the Cayman Islands.

Kind of interesting that Kenny Boy hasn't even had to sweat, let alone spend even 24 hours in the slammer.

Anyway, I enjoy starting the New Year seeing at least another country meting out justice.

noticed the difference-thier corporate crooks get jailed, ours are sunbathing....