Shielded by a cordon of policemen, Parmalat’s former chairman Calisto Tanzi appeared briefly in a packed courtroom in Milan yesterday as angry investors who lost their savings crowded outside for the opening of a trial into the huge fraud at the dairy empire.

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.