Questions over Parmalat '£4.9bn find'

A REPORT that e7bn (£4.9bn) of funds in fraud-hit Italian food giant Parmalat have been discovered in a bank account of founder Calisto Tanzi has been dismissed as 'pure speculation'.

TGfin, a website controlled by the business interests of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, reported that sources close to the creditors' committee had said funds had been found in a Bank of America account deposited by a company linked to Tanzi.

However, Mauro Sandri, chairman of the Parmalat Creditors Committee, queried the report. 'I know the report is out there,' he said. 'The source is probably someone close to us but at this moment I cannot confirm it.'

A spokesman for Parmalat administrator Enrico Bondi went further, quashing the credibility of the report, saying: 'It is pure speculation.'