Deloitte founded in London in 1845 by 27-year old William Welch Deloitte, believed to be the first individual retained as independent auditor
Great Western Railway Company retained Deloitte as auditor
After WWII, the Italian monarchy dissolved, King Umberto II forced to abdicate, even though fascist military leader Benito Mussolini effectively ruled from 1922-1943
26-year old Alexander Richardson Grant created Alexander Grant & Co. in Chicago
Creation of new democracy, Repubblica Italia
By mid 1960s, Calisto expanded the family business to a wide range of food products (primarily dairy products)
Tanzi learned new pasteurization process developed in Sweden, called ultra-high-temperature (UHT) pasteurization
High priority on strengthening credibility with primary objective to increase foreign direct investment
Created Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa, federal agency like SEC and commonly known as Consob that oversees independent audit function
Italian law mandated public company to have audited financial statements by independent firm
Parmalat suffered large losses from television broadcasting attempt to compete with Berlusconi's networks and earliest international venture, Brazilian subsidiary established in 1970s; Tanzi & Tonna increased the scope and magnitude of the fraud from increasing losses of Brazilian subsidiary
Fought off takeover attempt by US-based Kraft Foods
Parmalat retained GT as auditor when went public in 1990
Six international accounting firms in 1990 called the Big 6 but subsequent merger and AA demise created Big Four, which audited more than 95% of all required companies to be audited by Consob or other government mandates
Christian Democratic Party (Democrazia Cristiana) dominated Italian politics for 5 decades after WWII with Tanzi as an important leader and financial support; in early 1990s, the Party collapsed after a political scandal and Silvio Berlusconi, Tanzi's rival, became Prime Minister for 3 non-consecutive terms
Aggressive acquisition program to become major international food distributor
Company went public on Milan Stock Exchange, Italy's largest securities market
Floated 35 bond issues, several exclusively marketed in the US
Senior member of GT audit team confessed awareness of large "hole" as early as 1997, but CFO convinced him that the "hole" would be filled in 3 years by profitable operations
Forced to replace GT in 1999 and chose D&T, who was the auditor when accounting fraud exposed in late December 2003
Consob asked D&T about suspicious items but D&T less than candid
Majority of reported assets were a product of Account 999 by later 2003; "trash bin for fake revenues, assets, and profits"
Institutional investors and large investment firms (Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch) questioned Parmalat's borrowings with billions in unrestricted cash
More than 36,000 employees and operations in 30 countries; Tanzi wanted to become the "Coca-Cola of milk" (12B glasses of Parmalat milk consumed annually)
200 interlocking corporations and subsidiaries including 20 finance companies, which thwarted government oversight that was deeply resented in Italy
Parmalat officials mistakenly admitted to difficulty in paying off a small bond issues, which triggered more questions and issues
Tanzi visited Prime Minister Berlusconi privately in Rome one month earlier for emergency government loans or loan guarantees; BOA revealed fictitious $5B cash account, causing bankruptcy and placement under government-appointed management team
Claudio Pessina, financial accountant for large Italian food conglomerate Parmalat, was ordered by CAO Luciano Del Soldato, the immediate supervisor, to destroy his laptop with a large hammer
Parmalat filed for bankruptcy on Christmas Eve, 2003
Tanzi indicted and arrested for fraud; business press compared to Enron, almost exactly 2 years prior, as "castle of cards"
Italian law enforcement arrested Del Soldato and 7 other executives for being involved in the largest accounting fraud in European history (1.5% of Italy's GNP, which was a much larger impact on Italy's economy than Enron or WorldCom on the US economy; fraud for more than 15 years; overstated assets by $16B; understated liabilities by over $10B; recorded $5B fictitious cash from BOA deposit; used mysterious inter-company account, Account 999, as virtual garbage dump for fictitious assets)
New government-appointed management team chose PwC as new auditor
Italian law allowed audit committee instead of board of statutory auditors, which can issue annual audit report in addition to auditors'
Fausto Tonna, former CFO, convicted to 30-month sentence, but converted to community service
Judge Lewis Kaplan, federal judge in Manhattan US District Court, issued ruling on "one firm" argument, which was "dawn of "one international accounting firm liability"
IFRS required since January 1, 2005; one minor difference between US and Italian auditors' responsibilities
Posting modest operating profits and listed on Milan Stock Exchange
D&T agreed to pay $149M to settle lawsuit against former bondholders
Tanzi sentenced to 10 years but reached age 70 one month prior to sentencing, so very unlikely to serve sentence even if appeal denied
Ironically, Judge Kaplan dismissed same bondholders' claims against GT as losses due to misconduct of Parmalat's management
Judge Kaplan issued ruling on "one firm" argument that "parent can't hide from misdeeds of its children"
DTT organized as Swiss verein, German term for union or voluntary association of businesses or not-for-profits, and best known verein worldwide; in 2010, reorganized as private company under UK laws