Prosecutors on Thursday prepared for a new phase in their investigation into a multi-billion-euro fraud Italian food group Parmalat which has triggered one of the world's biggest corporate scandals.
After a sudden widening of the probe on Wednesday when police arrested seven people including two former Parmalat finance directors and two outside auditors, the prosecutors tracking Parmalat's missing billions were due to launch fresh questioning on Friday, after the New Year's Day holiday.
The investigators in Parma, near the group's headquarters, also want to hear from US and South American banks which have been asked for information.
Long-standing concerns about Parmalat's opaque finances exploded into a full-blown crisis two weeks ago when Bank of America rejected as fake a document purportedly showing a Caymans Island unit of Parmalat held four billion euros ($5 billion) of cash and securities with the US bank.
Since then, Parmalat's founder Calisto Tanzi has been arrested, followed up by Wednesday's seven detentions.
They included the chairman and a partner of the Italian affiliate of global accounting group Grant Thornton which certified the accounts of the Cayman Island unit.
Prosecutors say they have uncovered a scheme of systematic fraud involving the auditors going back years which was used to cover up the true state of Parmalat's finances. Grant Thornton Spa in Italy has denied any wrongdoing.
Tanzi resigned as the crisis came to the boil this month and he has admitted to funnelling 500 million euros from the publicly listed company - now declared insolvent - into firms owned by his family.
He has also estimated the hole in Parmalat's accounts to be about eight billion euros, according to court documents. Prosecutors say the hole could surpass 10 billion euros.
Doctors on Friday were due to begin a medical examination of 65 year-old Tanzi, who has previously suffered a heart attack, to determine whether he should stay in Milan's San Vittore jail.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission this week launched its own investigation into what it called one of the "most brazen corporate financial frauds in history."
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