PARMALAT’S debt reached €14.3 billion at the end of September, almost eight times the amount reported by the dairy company’s previous management before it went bankrupt.

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.

PARMALAT Finanziaria SpA founder Calisto Tanzi is being probed for allegedly misappropriating about €800 million ($1 billion) from the company, a person familiar with the investigation said.