Company scandal grows

last updated 8 January 2015

Parma, Italy

The bankrupt food company Parmalat owes a whopping $18 billion to its creditors, auditors said this week. The sum is more than eight times what Parmalat said it owed. The respected, family-owned company had been fudging its books for years, fooling investors, banks, and Italian regulators, before the scheme collapsed last month. The company’s founder, Calisto Tanzi, has been arrested but is being held in the hospital because of heart trouble. Several top financial officers are in jail, including the finance director, Fausto Tonna. This week, Tonna’s chief aide, Alessandro Bassi, killed himself by jumping off a bridge in Parma.