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PARMA, Italy (AP) - The trial on the most serious criminal charges in the multibillion-dollar failure of the Parmalat dairy empire opened Friday, more than four years after the company acknowledged a crushing debt that would lead to Europe's biggest corporate bankruptcy.
Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi and his one-time right-hand man and former CFO Fausto Tonna are among 24 former executives who face charges including fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association. The charges carry a maximum 15 years in prison, the most severe penalties in any of the series of trials in Milan and Parma.
The court also opened four related trials, including on Parmalat's acquisition of the Ciapazzi mineral water firm and the failure of Parmalat's travel company Parmatours, raising the total number of defendants to 56 — including the well-known Italian bankers Cesare Geronzi and Matteo Arpe.
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