Great frauds in history: Calisto Tanzi and Parmalat

Calisto Tanzi systematically falsifying dairy company Parmalat’s financial statements, using complex derivatives and subsidiaries to hide the total amount of debt.

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(Image credit: 2005 AFP)

Calisto Tanzi was born in Collecchio, Italy, in 1938, and went on to found dairy company Parmalat in 1961 after dropping out of university to run the family business. During the next three decades Parmalat would expand into various food-related lines, such as bakeries and processing plants, eventually floating on the Milan Stock Exchange in 1990. Over the next decade it continued to grow strongly by expanding abroad and buying other firms, including television channels and the football club Parma FC. By 2002 the conglomerate was valued at €3.7bn, employed 30,000 people and claimed to have €7.5bn in annual revenue.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri