Bank of America denies Parmalat account

18 Jan, 2004

Parmalat said on Saturday that Bank of America had denied the existence of an account reportedly containing seven billion euros of the food group's funds.
The bank told Parmalat that it had "initiated an internal investigation," Parmalat said in a statement.
Earlier this month Carlo Zauli, a lawyer for a group of Parmalat creditors, said he had traced about $7.7 billion of Parmalat's funds but had no documented proof.
On Friday he said he was able to provide the number of an account at a Bank of America branch in New York where, he said, Parmalat had deposited seven billion euros worth of U.S government bonds.
Parmalat said its extraordinary administrator, Enrico Bondi, requested information from Bank of America.
"In a reply received this morning, Bank of America made it known that the account number in question is not amongst those used by their New York branch, but that in any case the bank has initiated an internal investigation," Parmalat said.
Zauli's colleagues at the creditors group had already distanced themselves from the lawyer's claims. Parmalat said earlier this month it was not aware of the funds.
Parmalat was declared insolvent last month and filed for bankruptcy protection. In December Bank of America rejected as false a document showing that a Parmalat unit had a four billion euro account at the bank.
Investigators have arrested 10 people including Parmalat's founder Calisto Tanzi. No charges have been brought so far.
The probe into fraud, market rigging and false accounting at Parmalat also aims to establish what role, if any, employees at Italian and foreign banks had in the scandal.
Bank of America earlier this week became the first US bank to reveal exposure to Parmalat, saying it had $274 million - or about 10 percent of its fourth quarter profit - in loans, credit letters and derivatives linked to the food group.

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