Rome, Jan 04: Enrico Bondi, charged by Rome with rescuing collapsed food giant Parmalat, has rejected an offer by its founder Calisto Tanzi to give up his personal assets to compensate for the billions missing from the company accounts, newspapers reported today. "Parmalat's shareholders have had enough of empty gestures, including this latest offer of assets that are probably worthless, private jet or yacht," a source close to Bondi quoted him as saying.
"Billions of Euros are missing and the time has come to answer a single question: where is the money?" Bondi was quoted as saying, in remarks widely relayed in the Sunday press.
Tanzi has reportedly admitted embezzling about 500 million Euros (630 million dollars) from the failed company, but investigators are trying to trace a total of 10-13 billion Euros said to be missing from the accounts.
In a statement to a Milan magistrate, Tanzi said yesterday he was willing to turn over his assets in Parmatour, a travel agency run by his daughter, and shares he held in Parmalat Finanziaria to compensate for the losses.
But media reported that the assets in question were liable to be seized following Parmalat's collapse and were effectively worthless.
Bureau Report