Children of Parmalat founder arrested

The son and daughter of Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi were arrested today as the investigation into alleged fraud at the Italian food giant deepened.

The arrests bring the number of people behind bars to 10, including the Parmalat founder.

Stefano Tanzi resigned as president of Parma, the Italian soccer club team owned by Parmalat, in the wake of the scandal.

His sister Francesca Tanzi worked in tourist companies owned by the family.

The reports said the two were arrested in their homes in Parma, near the company’s headquarters.

They are suspected of fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association, the AGI news agency said.

The Parmalat scandal exploded on December 19 when the company acknowledged that it did not have more than €4bn it had claimed was in a Bank of America account.

Soon after, Parmalat went into bankruptcy protection.

A fresh audit, which was ordered after the scandal broke, recently put the company’s debt at about €17bn – eight times more than Parmalat had claimed in September.

Calisto Tanzi, the man at the centre of the allegations, was picked up in Milan in December. He was later transferred to a prison in Parma.