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Europe news: Tanzi denies role in fraud
Posted by:Mark 51 days ago • Discuss
MILAN, Italy – Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi on Monday denied a role in orchestrating fraud that led to the stunning 2003 failure of his dairy empire as a three-year-old trial in the case drew to a close. "I never created, I never with knowledge orchestrated a great fraud at the expense of investors," Tanzi told the court in a 15-minute statement, instead referring to a series of operations involving various banks that sold the bad bonds. Tanzi didn't testify during the trial, instead invoking his right to address the court during the opening and closing phases. He has blamed the banks for Parmalat's failure. Tanzi also denied, as he has in the past, sitting on a fortune amassed from investors who poured millions into the dairy empire, which had grown into an international conglomerate with operations in 34 countries. He said that when he went to Ecuador in December 2003_ shortly after Parmalat's problems had come into the public — it was not to flee authorities. "Ecuador is not a fiscal paradise to move money, but a place where I retreated to put in order my ideas before presenting them to the judges," Tanzi said. Tanzi is charged with market rigging, misleading Italy's stock market regulator and providing false accounting information in the Milan trial. Prosecutors have sought a 13-year jail sentence for the Parmalat founder, who is also charged with fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association in another trial in the city of Parma. He has denied wrongdoing in all cases. Parmalat collapsed under euro14 million in debt five years ago this December. The trial — which now includes just seven defendants including Tanzi after others opted out for parallel procedures or reached plea agreements — is in its final phase. A sentence is expected by the end of the year.
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