Parmalat founder admits causing suffering

ROME (AP) — The disgraced and ailing founder of the Parmalat dairy empire told an Italian court Monday that he realizes he is to blame for the suffering caused by the fraudulent bankruptcy of the company.

After arriving by ambulance with a feeding tube applied to his nose, 73-year-old Calisto Tanzi told a Bologna appeals court that he carries the "indelible weight' for the suffering caused by his errors.

Parmalat, which sold milk, juice and baked goods in 30 countries, collapsed in 2003 when the company acknowledged its debt was eight times higher than previously claimed. It was Europe's largest corporate failure.

In 2010, a lower court in Parma, Italy, convicted Tanzi of fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association in the €14 billion ($18 million) collapse of his company and sentenced him to 18 years in prison. In a separate trial related to Parmalat's collapse, Tanzi was convicted in Milan of market rigging and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Some 40,000 bondholders were defrauded. Tanzi had blamed the banks for a labyrinth of shaky deals that both helped the once-simple dairy, headquartered near Parma, grow into a global empire and also fueled its collapse.

The banks claimed they were duped.

Tanzi has been in poor health for months, and his lawyers won permission from the Bologna court for him to appear in the courtroom without handcuffs.

"I will always carry the indelible weight for the suffering caused to all those who, because of my fault, suffered damages," Tanzi said in a weak and halting voice. "I am today fully aware of the errors that were committed."

"From the time of my interrogations, I have always assumed the responsibility of all that was done by the (Parmalat) group, and I am perfectly aware of the gravity of the damages that the creditors, and above all, those who bought bonds of the group, suffered," Tanzi said.

After it failed, Parmalat emerged from bankruptcy protection after a two-year reorganization.