Calisto Tanzi, a businessman who turned a small family milk company into the multi-national food powerhouse Parmalat before it collapsed in one of Italy’s largest fraudulent bankruptcy, died on Saturday at the age of 83.
Tanzi died of pneumonia in a hospital in Parma, where he had made his money, according to his family.
Parmalat went bankrupt in 2003 after a 14 billion euro hole in its balance sheet was discovered, wiping out the investments of thousands of small investors in bankruptcy that rippled throughout the banking, sports, tourism, and entertainment industries.
For years, the firm exaggerated its profits and revenues, and the collapse generated litigation against dozens of institutions throughout the world.
Tanzi, along with other firm executives and important Italian financiers, went through a series of trials. He was sentenced to several years in prison after being found guilty of market rigging, false bankruptcy, and other offenses.
He was born in 1938 in the small village of Collecchio and took over his grandfather’s local milk industry when he was 22 years old. After more than four decades, the Parmalat business had over 130 plants producing milk, yogurt, and other food items all over the world.
A first-division soccer team, a tourism company, and a television network were among his commercial ventures. It also supported ski and Formula One race teams.
In 2003, the Parmalat crisis emerged when the firm claimed a 4 billion euro bank account held by a Cayman Islands business did not exist, compelling management to file for bankruptcy and triggering a criminal fraud investigation.
Despite the company’s investment-grade rating at the time, questions had been raised about the company’s failure to explain why it did not use cash on its balance sheet to reduce debt.
Tanzi had hidden art treasures by masters such as Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh at the houses of pals, according to authorities. The artwork was sold at auction.
