The 40-year-old Italian national, Stefano Tanzi, allegedly stole USD 1.7 million (CHF 1.9 million, EUR 2.2 million) from Parmalat-owned transport firm Eliair in 2001 together with another employee.

The money was allegedly channelled into a Swiss bank account in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.

The trial at the court in Bellinzona is expected to last two days, with a verdict expected after 22 January.

In December, Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Italy over a EUR 14 billion fraud scandal in 2003 that led to Europe’s largest corporate bankruptcy to date.

The 70-year-old, who turned a modest pasteurised milk company into a leading food manufacturer and symbol of Italy’s post-World War II prosperity, was the first executive to be sent to prison for his part in the firm’s collapse.

[AFP / Expatica]