An Italian judge has opened preliminary hearings into the collapse of Italian food group Parmalat and is expected to decide whether or not 32 individuals and companies should stand trial for crimes such as fraud and market-rigging.

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Since opening the hearings, Judge Cesare Tacconi has already decided that two Grant Thornton auditors, Lorenzo Penca and Maurizio Bianchi, should stand trial in January, reported Reuters.


Prosecutors claim that several Parmalat managers, assisted by three former Bank of America staff and outside auditors, hid the state of the company’s finances until its collapse late last year.


Among the 29 individuals and three financial institutions believed by prosecutors to be involved in the alleged fraud and market-rigging are the company’s founder Calisto Tanzi, his son Stefano and brother Giovanni, the Italian offices of Bank of America and Deloitte & Touche, the former Italian affiliate of Grant Thornton, and two of Parmalat’s former finance bosses.

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