The Italian Job
10 min 57 secs - January 2004
Montage Parma. Rich soil, rich culture, rich people. Epicurean capital of Europe; ham and cheese from heaven, land of milk and money. Even the cows that make the milk that makes Parmesan cheese eat well. But now Parma's name's in the muck. A scandal, hot and steaming.
Parmalat interiors and exteriors For here at Parmalat, the global dairy and food conglomerate, they've been cooking the books and have dished up a fraud of epic proportions. There's a 12 billion euro black hole in the finances.
PARMA GVs + Opera House It's pure opera from the city which gave us Verdi; nail-biting drama, scandal, the tragic, the comic; Parmalat "the opera" is about the fall of the House of Tanzi, the latter-day Duke of Parma. Heres the cast
Archive Calisto Tanzi Calisto Tanzi, the 65-year-old patriarch and managing director who founded Parmalat forty years ago. He's now in jail in Milan while investigators pour over the companys books looking for the missing billions
Anita Tanzi Anita, his wife, is now under house arrest after trying to draw money from company accounts after the collapse.
Tanzi at match Football training. Stefano leaves Press conference Calisto Tanzi liked to keep things in the family FXHe bought the local football club Parma AC and pushed it into the Italian first division with lavish helpings of cash. He put his son, also a Parmalat director, in the chair. But now Stefano Tanzi has had to stand down and the club is selling its stars fast.
Francesca archive Tanzis daughter, Francesca, was made princess of the now bankrupt family-owned travel company Parmatour.
ELVIO UBALDIMayor of Parma It's a drama, a tragedy in the sense that you'd need a piece of grand theatre to tell the story. A real lyric tragedy."
Collechio gvsBar gvs The drama is felt most in the Parma suburb which the Tanzis made their own. It houses the staff and managers of Parmalat, some of whom are under investigation. From here a Parmalat accountant Alessandro Bassi this week threw himself off a bridge, leaving a wife and two children. Locals blame the tragedy on the man they used to worship as a patron saint and benefactor .
TRUCK DRIVER "Yes we do feel let down. No one can believe what has happened. You can hear everybody saying "it's just unbelievable to think that a family like the Tanzis have done what we're reading and seeing in the press and on TV."
FARM WORKER While the farmers were milking their cows, Mr Tanzi was milking the Italians.
ELVIO UBALDIMayor of Parma He is a generous person which is why people are reluctant to abandon this image of Tanzi and to accept the picture which is emerging from the investigations, in which he seems a big fraudster. A person who has concocted one of the biggest frauds in history."
Scene outside Parmalat HQTonna with policeBocchi with police Outside Parmalat headquarters crowds gather as senior executives are brought from prison to the scene of the crime They are showing the new government appointed administrator of Parmalat how the books were cooked - in the hope they can track down the missing billions.Amongst them is finance director Fausto Tonna. He has revealed a secret bank account in Monte Carlo into which Tanzi allegedly siphoned $1.8 billion dollars. The chief accountant Gianfranco Bocchi was the man who carried out managements orders.
Ilaria Mantovani in flat As Bocchi, unravelled the paper trail at Parmalats headquarters, his wife, Ilaria, agreed to talk to us.
TV News In the family apartment the lunchtime news was on. She was hoping for a glimpse of her husband who was arrested on New Years Eve.
Now that she thinks about it, Ilaria believes the accountants must have known of the companys problems months ago.
ILARIA MONTOVANIAccountants wife He wasn't sleeping much. He was very stressed. Several times he told me "I'm resigning." But I didn't connect this with a problem in the company. I thought what he was saying was connected with the hours he was working. He was exhausted. I even said why don't you ask for a transfer. But he said it wasnt so easy to change responsibilities. (insomma)
Court house Parma Perhaps not if the job involved fraud. Here at Parmas courthouse theyve launched a criminal investigation. According to Magistrate Antonella Iofreddi employees like Gianfranco Bocchi were not the main culprits.
ANTONELLA IOFFREDI Investigating Magistrate There were people who gave orders and people who carried them out. He was a person who carried them out., He was in charge of the accounts and also the false ones. Naturally he didnt have the power to decide these things. They gave the orders and he carried them out.
ILARIA MANTOVANIAccountants wife I think he was asked to do certain things and I think that out of loyalty he thought he would do them to save the company. He must have thought that if he didnt build this pack of cards, Parmalat would have collapsed perhaps 5 years ago, rather than now.
Parma GVs Banks Banca Monte di Parma Parmesans and investigators around the world want to know whether Parmalats bankers knowingly misled investors. The heads of several local banks were Tanzi's cronies and some even on Parmalats board. Throughout 2003 they were raising millions from local savers Some of the banks are suspected of being in on the game. The president of this bank has been arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy to conceal bankruptcy
Campilii in office Local lawyers are being swamped with calls from Italians, many elderly, who lent money to Parmalat -- some as recently as last September.
Actuality(ANNA CAMPILIISmall Investors Lawyer) But its all like that. When the code [on your bond] has the prefix xs, read rip-off. And when the international code is xso, read double rip-off because its not just the people here ripping you off. Its also referring to an empty box in Rotterdam. Is that clear?
Café scene Teacher Antonia Ferrari bought Parmalat bonds and shares worth 22 ,000 euros. She fears that shes lost it all
ANTONIA FERRARITeacher I know people whove invested three generations worth of savings. An elderly man lost 31,000 euros. Hes crying all the time. He has nothing left. (niente) I cant point the finger. Im not a judge but someone must be to blame. Those who committed these acts knew..
Campilii shots But finding someone to blame means the lawyers must unravel a complex international web of Parmalat bonds
ANNA CAMPILII Small Investors Lawyer The people who've lent money to this group just don't know who it is who they've lent their money to. Because these companies, all called Parmalat, are based in different countries. [Actuality: Hello ]
And suspicions are growing that even some of the world's mightiest banks may be implicated in the biggest corporate collapse in European history.
Courthouse with TonnaThree shot This week lawyers representing shareholders presented evidence to magistrates that Tanzis Monte Carlo account contained earnings from a secret financial operation. Carlo Zauli says hes tracked down some of the missing billions to an offshore account in the Bank of America money, he says, which came from Italian banks. Bank of America has denied the existence of such an account but Zauli stands by his claim.
CARLO ZAULILawyer, Creditors' Committee The financial operation was highly intricate. I dont believe that the Italian banks and American banks can argue they are victims of this fraud. They are responsible in civil law for what happened.
Photos pan Its a legal nightmare. Meanwhile Ilaria Mantovanis accountant husband is allowed no contact with his family. Shes seen him once since News Years Eve.
ILARIA MONTOVANIAccountants wife On the 13th of January I went there with the children. He was so happy, In the room there was a bench. He wasnt expecting us. When he came in and saw us he tried to jump over the bench . dont record me. Hang on ..
ANTONIA FERRARITeacher Im furious because if what those families have lost is not returned to them, it means that Italy cannot give a clear signal, that Italy is in the hands of a powerful elite and that this powerful elite is worse for Italy that the old dictatorship. Because with dictators you knew where you stood and you could defend yourself. Whereas now you are made to feel free, even if freedom does not exist.
GVs Parma As Parmalat directors and their aides languish in prison, the people of Parma are waiting to hear how much they've lost. What for them began as an embarrassing Italian family drama is fast becoming a grand opera on the world stage. So far there are no answers: the fat lady hasn't yet started to sing.
Ends 10. 57
CREDITS: SEE NEXT PAGE
CREDITS
Producer: Alison Rooper
Reporter: Jonathan Miller
Researcher: Alessandra Maggiorani
Camera: Bruno Sorrentino
Editor: Tim Lambourn
© IN FOCUS PRODUCTIONS
10 min 57 secs - January 2004
Montage Parma. Rich soil, rich culture, rich people. Epicurean capital of Europe; ham and cheese from heaven, land of milk and money. Even the cows that make the milk that makes Parmesan cheese eat well. But now Parma's name's in the muck. A scandal, hot and steaming.
Parmalat interiors and exteriors For here at Parmalat, the global dairy and food conglomerate, they've been cooking the books and have dished up a fraud of epic proportions. There's a 12 billion euro black hole in the finances.
PARMA GVs + Opera House It's pure opera from the city which gave us Verdi; nail-biting drama, scandal, the tragic, the comic; Parmalat "the opera" is about the fall of the House of Tanzi, the latter-day Duke of Parma. Heres the cast
Archive Calisto Tanzi Calisto Tanzi, the 65-year-old patriarch and managing director who founded Parmalat forty years ago. He's now in jail in Milan while investigators pour over the companys books looking for the missing billions
Anita Tanzi Anita, his wife, is now under house arrest after trying to draw money from company accounts after the collapse.
Tanzi at match Football training. Stefano leaves Press conference Calisto Tanzi liked to keep things in the family FXHe bought the local football club Parma AC and pushed it into the Italian first division with lavish helpings of cash. He put his son, also a Parmalat director, in the chair. But now Stefano Tanzi has had to stand down and the club is selling its stars fast.
Francesca archive Tanzis daughter, Francesca, was made princess of the now bankrupt family-owned travel company Parmatour.
ELVIO UBALDIMayor of Parma It's a drama, a tragedy in the sense that you'd need a piece of grand theatre to tell the story. A real lyric tragedy."
Collechio gvsBar gvs The drama is felt most in the Parma suburb which the Tanzis made their own. It houses the staff and managers of Parmalat, some of whom are under investigation. From here a Parmalat accountant Alessandro Bassi this week threw himself off a bridge, leaving a wife and two children. Locals blame the tragedy on the man they used to worship as a patron saint and benefactor .
TRUCK DRIVER "Yes we do feel let down. No one can believe what has happened. You can hear everybody saying "it's just unbelievable to think that a family like the Tanzis have done what we're reading and seeing in the press and on TV."
FARM WORKER While the farmers were milking their cows, Mr Tanzi was milking the Italians.
ELVIO UBALDIMayor of Parma He is a generous person which is why people are reluctant to abandon this image of Tanzi and to accept the picture which is emerging from the investigations, in which he seems a big fraudster. A person who has concocted one of the biggest frauds in history."
Scene outside Parmalat HQTonna with policeBocchi with police Outside Parmalat headquarters crowds gather as senior executives are brought from prison to the scene of the crime They are showing the new government appointed administrator of Parmalat how the books were cooked - in the hope they can track down the missing billions.Amongst them is finance director Fausto Tonna. He has revealed a secret bank account in Monte Carlo into which Tanzi allegedly siphoned $1.8 billion dollars. The chief accountant Gianfranco Bocchi was the man who carried out managements orders.
Ilaria Mantovani in flat As Bocchi, unravelled the paper trail at Parmalats headquarters, his wife, Ilaria, agreed to talk to us.
TV News In the family apartment the lunchtime news was on. She was hoping for a glimpse of her husband who was arrested on New Years Eve.
Now that she thinks about it, Ilaria believes the accountants must have known of the companys problems months ago.
ILARIA MONTOVANIAccountants wife He wasn't sleeping much. He was very stressed. Several times he told me "I'm resigning." But I didn't connect this with a problem in the company. I thought what he was saying was connected with the hours he was working. He was exhausted. I even said why don't you ask for a transfer. But he said it wasnt so easy to change responsibilities. (insomma)
Court house Parma Perhaps not if the job involved fraud. Here at Parmas courthouse theyve launched a criminal investigation. According to Magistrate Antonella Iofreddi employees like Gianfranco Bocchi were not the main culprits.
ANTONELLA IOFFREDI Investigating Magistrate There were people who gave orders and people who carried them out. He was a person who carried them out., He was in charge of the accounts and also the false ones. Naturally he didnt have the power to decide these things. They gave the orders and he carried them out.
ILARIA MANTOVANIAccountants wife I think he was asked to do certain things and I think that out of loyalty he thought he would do them to save the company. He must have thought that if he didnt build this pack of cards, Parmalat would have collapsed perhaps 5 years ago, rather than now.
Parma GVs Banks Banca Monte di Parma Parmesans and investigators around the world want to know whether Parmalats bankers knowingly misled investors. The heads of several local banks were Tanzi's cronies and some even on Parmalats board. Throughout 2003 they were raising millions from local savers Some of the banks are suspected of being in on the game. The president of this bank has been arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy to conceal bankruptcy
Campilii in office Local lawyers are being swamped with calls from Italians, many elderly, who lent money to Parmalat -- some as recently as last September.
Actuality(ANNA CAMPILIISmall Investors Lawyer) But its all like that. When the code [on your bond] has the prefix xs, read rip-off. And when the international code is xso, read double rip-off because its not just the people here ripping you off. Its also referring to an empty box in Rotterdam. Is that clear?
Café scene Teacher Antonia Ferrari bought Parmalat bonds and shares worth 22 ,000 euros. She fears that shes lost it all
ANTONIA FERRARITeacher I know people whove invested three generations worth of savings. An elderly man lost 31,000 euros. Hes crying all the time. He has nothing left. (niente) I cant point the finger. Im not a judge but someone must be to blame. Those who committed these acts knew..
Campilii shots But finding someone to blame means the lawyers must unravel a complex international web of Parmalat bonds
ANNA CAMPILII Small Investors Lawyer The people who've lent money to this group just don't know who it is who they've lent their money to. Because these companies, all called Parmalat, are based in different countries. [Actuality: Hello ]
And suspicions are growing that even some of the world's mightiest banks may be implicated in the biggest corporate collapse in European history.
Courthouse with TonnaThree shot This week lawyers representing shareholders presented evidence to magistrates that Tanzis Monte Carlo account contained earnings from a secret financial operation. Carlo Zauli says hes tracked down some of the missing billions to an offshore account in the Bank of America money, he says, which came from Italian banks. Bank of America has denied the existence of such an account but Zauli stands by his claim.
CARLO ZAULILawyer, Creditors' Committee The financial operation was highly intricate. I dont believe that the Italian banks and American banks can argue they are victims of this fraud. They are responsible in civil law for what happened.
Photos pan Its a legal nightmare. Meanwhile Ilaria Mantovanis accountant husband is allowed no contact with his family. Shes seen him once since News Years Eve.
ILARIA MONTOVANIAccountants wife On the 13th of January I went there with the children. He was so happy, In the room there was a bench. He wasnt expecting us. When he came in and saw us he tried to jump over the bench . dont record me. Hang on ..
ANTONIA FERRARITeacher Im furious because if what those families have lost is not returned to them, it means that Italy cannot give a clear signal, that Italy is in the hands of a powerful elite and that this powerful elite is worse for Italy that the old dictatorship. Because with dictators you knew where you stood and you could defend yourself. Whereas now you are made to feel free, even if freedom does not exist.
GVs Parma As Parmalat directors and their aides languish in prison, the people of Parma are waiting to hear how much they've lost. What for them began as an embarrassing Italian family drama is fast becoming a grand opera on the world stage. So far there are no answers: the fat lady hasn't yet started to sing.
Ends 10. 57
CREDITS: SEE NEXT PAGE
CREDITS
Producer: Alison Rooper
Reporter: Jonathan Miller
Researcher: Alessandra Maggiorani
Camera: Bruno Sorrentino
Editor: Tim Lambourn
© IN FOCUS PRODUCTIONS