Nossaman Client Acquitted in Parmalat Fraud
02.02.2009
Washington, DC (February 2, 2009) - Nossaman Partner Bob Adler and the client's Milan, Italy defense team of Jacopo Pensa and Federico Papa were successful in obtaining an acquittal for Antonio Luzi, a former Bank of America employee, at the conclusion of a Milan trial which spanned three years. Luzi, together with two other former Bank of America employees, had been charged in a high profile criminal market manipulation case. The criminal charges were related to Parmalat, the collapsed Italian dairy giant.
This is the largest financial scandal in Italian history and continues to reverberate throughout Italy. Parmalat was declared insolvent in December 2003 after it emerged that 4 billion Euros it supposedly held in various bank accounts did not in fact exist and its liabilities were several times greater than its financial statements disclosed. Bank of America was joined as a civil party in the case on the theory that it knew Parmalat was insolvent but nevertheless continued to float Parmalat equity and debt offerings. Antonio Luzi and two other former employees in the bank's Milan office were charged on the theory that they made various representations to the market despite knowing that Parmalat was insolvent. Mr. Luzi was the only person to testify in the Milan proceedings of the three former Bank of America employees.
The Milan tribunal acquitted Luzi and the other two former Bank of America employees of all charges. An important outcome of this decision was that the Bank of America was not obligated to pay any of the civil claims asserted in the case which amounted to approximately $14 billion. The Tribunal's decision attracted worldwide attention from the financial press.
This is the largest financial scandal in Italian history and continues to reverberate throughout Italy. Parmalat was declared insolvent in December 2003 after it emerged that 4 billion Euros it supposedly held in various bank accounts did not in fact exist and its liabilities were several times greater than its financial statements disclosed. Bank of America was joined as a civil party in the case on the theory that it knew Parmalat was insolvent but nevertheless continued to float Parmalat equity and debt offerings. Antonio Luzi and two other former employees in the bank's Milan office were charged on the theory that they made various representations to the market despite knowing that Parmalat was insolvent. Mr. Luzi was the only person to testify in the Milan proceedings of the three former Bank of America employees.
The Milan tribunal acquitted Luzi and the other two former Bank of America employees of all charges. An important outcome of this decision was that the Bank of America was not obligated to pay any of the civil claims asserted in the case which amounted to approximately $14 billion. The Tribunal's decision attracted worldwide attention from the financial press.