NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- A class action complaint has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, case number 04-CV-367, on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A. ("Parmalat" or the "Company") securities (OTCBB:PARAF) (Milan:PFR IM) during the period January 5, 1999 and December 29, 2003, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). The Complaint names Parmalat, Calisto Tanzi, Luciano Del Soldato, Stefano Tanzi, Domenico Barili, Francesco Giuffredi, Giovanni Tanzi, Fausto Tonna, Citigroup, Inc., Deloitte & Touche Tohmatsu, Deloitte & Touche S.p.A., Grant Thornton International, Grant Thornton S.p.A., Bonlat Financing Corp., Coloniale S.p.A., Zini & Associates, and Buconero LLC as defendants. To discuss this action, this announcement, or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Eric J. Belfi or Gregory Linkh at Rabin, Murray & Frank LLP, 275 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, by telephone at (800) 497-8076 or (212) 682-1818, by facsimile at (212) 682-1892, or by e-mail at info@rabinlaw.com.
The Complaint alleges that defendants violated section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and misleading statements concerning the Company's financial statements. In particular, the Complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following: (1) that its assets in its audited financial statements were overstated; (2) that Parmalat falsely stated that it had used its "excess cash balances"-which actually did not exist-to repurchase corporate debt securities worth 2.9 billion euros (approximately $3.6 billion), when in fact it had not repurchased those debt obligations and they remained outstanding; (3) that the $625 million of Parmalat's cash allegedly invested in a liquid investment fund in the Cayman Islands could not be retrieved because it was falsified; (4) that the Company used off-shore shell companies, such as Bonlat Financing Corp., Buconero LLC, and Epicurum to falsify its financial results; (5) that defendants C. Tanzi and S. Tanzi siphoned as much as 800 million euros ($1 billion) from Parmalat operations, mainly to finance other family businesses; (6) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls and was therefore unable to ascertain the true financial condition of the Company; and (7) that as a result, the value of the Company's net income and financial results were materially overstated at all relevant times. The Complaint alleges that as a result of these false and misleading statements and omissions of material fact the price of Parmalat securities were artificially inflated throughout the Class Period causing plaintiff and the other members of the Class to suffer damages.
Plaintiff is represented by the law firm of Rabin, Murray & Frank LLP. Rabin, Murray & Frank LLP and its predecessor firms have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than thirty years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired Parmalat securities during the Class Period described above, you may, no later than March 5, 2004, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff. To serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. You can join this action as a lead plaintiff online at www.rabinlaw.com. Contact plaintiff's counsel Eric J. Belfi or Gregory Linkh of Rabin, Murray & Frank LLP to further discuss this action, this announcement, or your rights or interests.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.