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To: glenn_a who wrote (20382)	10/21/2004 11:25:44 AM
From: russwinter	Respond to of 110194

The regular cast of characters: Associated Press Reports: Banks Added to Parmalat Probe Thursday October 21, 11:20 am ET Four Banks, One Asset Management Company Under Investigation in Parmalat Probe, Reports Say ROME (AP) -- Prosecutors in Milan have added four banks and an Italian bank's asset management arm to their investigation into the collapse of Italian dairy giant Parmalat, news reports said Thursday. The prosecutors cited Citigroup Inc., UBS AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley and Banca Intesa's asset management arm Nextra, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies reported. Judicial officials did not return phone calls seeking confirmation. The investigators allege possible market rigging, the reports said. A Deutsche Bank spokesman said the bank had not yet been notified. Morgan Stanley and UBS declined official comment, while spokesmen at Citigroup and Nextra could not immediately be reached. Under Italian law, institutions as well as individuals can be ordered to stand trial. So far the Milan probe has involved 29 people, ranging from the dairy giant's founder Calisto Tanzi to former company financial officers and lawyers, as well as three institutions: the Italian branches of Bank of America Corp. and auditor Deloitte & Touche SpA, and Grant Thornton's former Italian branch. Two of the 29 have been indicted. Meanwhile, prosecutors in Parma have been investigating Tanzi and other former top executives about the company's bankruptcy filing. That probe is also still under way. The scandal broke in December after Parmalat acknowledged it didn't have nearly 3.95 billion euros (then almost $5 billion) it claimed was in a Bank of America account. Shortly after the first revelations, Parmalat went into bankruptcy protection. An audit during the early days of the probe put the company's debt at $18 billion, eight times higher than the company claimed in its accounts.