Calisto Tanzi founded Parmalat, the Italian dairy company at the center of the 2003 accounting scandal.
Tanzi started Parmalat in 1961 as a small food business in Collecchio, near Parma. The company later became internationally known for long-life milk and expanded into food, tourism, television, and sports sponsorship. Its growth was supported by complex financing and a wide network of subsidiaries.
In December 2003, Parmalat disclosed that a supposed Bank of America account containing nearly €4 billion did not exist. Investigators then uncovered extensive falsified documents, concealed debt, and offshore transactions. The missing funds and liabilities were eventually estimated at roughly €14 billion, making the collapse one of Europe’s largest accounting scandals.
Tanzi was arrested and prosecuted in Italy. He received convictions in several proceedings, including a major fraud case, although some legal outcomes changed on appeal. The scandal is often called Europe’s Enron because of its scale and the role of fabricated financial information.