Italian prosecutors looking into the near collapse of food giant Parmalat claim the company’s founder was fully aware of multi-billion euro fraud at his company, and urged a judge to keep the one-time business baron behind bars during investigations.

Italian prosecutors asked a judge today to confirm the arrest of Parmalat’s founder and former Chief Executive Officer after they accused him of market rigging, fraudulent bankruptcy and making false statements to auditors to hide a multi-billion pound hole in the dairy company’s balance sheet.