Deloitte Italy sues Parmalat
Former auditor brings damages claim against dairy company
Deloitte Italy has launched a legal claim for damages against its former
audit client Parmalat..
This follows Parmalat’s own legal pursuit of the firm for its role in the
dairy group’s €14bn (£9.6bn) collapse.
In a statement, Deloitte said the counterclaim is for fraud, breach of
contract, indemnification and for the intentional or negligent destruction of
documents underlying the fraud, which led to the company filing for insolvency
in December 2003.
The counterclaim has been lodged in the US although Deloitte has not said how
much it is seeking.
Last month, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan upheld Parmalat’s claim that it
should be allowed to continue with a $10bn (£5.4bn) lawsuit, not only against
Deloitte in Italy but also against its international network Deloitte Touche
Tohmatsu as well against Grant Thornton International’s US and Italian firm
which were also former auditors of Parmalat.
Parmalat claims the former auditors contributed to its collapse. However, in
the counterclaim, Deloitte argues that as it was a victim of the fraud and that
Parmalat should be barred from seeking damages from the firm.