Bondi Suit Against Citigroup In Parmalat Affair Can Proceed
A New Jersey state court judge ruled that Enrico Bondi, the special administrator now running collapsed Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA, can proceed with a lawsuit against Citigroup Inc ., in which he is seeking as much as $10 billion, or about �7.55 billion, in damages.
In a 61-page ruling, Superior Court Judge Jonathan N. Harris denied a motion filed by Citigroup seeking to dismiss Mr. Bondi's lawsuit. The judge rejected the New York-based bank's arguments that New Jersey wasn't an appropriate venue for the case and that Mr. Bondi hadn't established sufficient legal cause for the action to proceed.
While Judge Harris's ruling is procedural, it sets the stage for a trial involving Citigroup's role in the demise of Parmalat. It also allows Mr. Bondi to begin requesting documents and e-mails pertaining to the bank's dealings with Parmalat and to begin deposing executives, a process known as discovery. That process could take from a year to 18 months.
Mr. Bondi's lawsuit claims that the world's biggest financial-services firm actively helped Parmalat's former managers allegedly engage in Europe's biggest-ever corporate fraud. Judge Harris's decision, however, didn't rule on those claims.
In response to the ruling, Citigroup said in a statement: "For the purposes of this motion, the court was required to assume that the allegations in the complaint were true, which plainly is not the case. ... As we've said, the case is without merit and we will continue to contest it vigorously."
A spokesman for Mr. Bondi declined to comment on the ruling.
Judge Harris's decision marks the first significant legal victory in the U.S. for Mr. Bondi, who has also filed suits against Bank of America Corp., as well as Parmalat's former auditors, Deloitte & Touche and Grant Thornton. Mr. Bondi has alleged that, like Citigroup, the bank and auditors contributed to the massive fraud at Parmalat that left the one-time Italian industrial icon a �14 billion hole in its books.
All those companies have denied Mr. Bondi's allegations and have filed motions to dismiss his lawsuits.
Mr. Bondi, who was appointed by the Italian government to run Parmalat after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2003, has also filed lawsuits in Italy against a number of banks. Those actions seek to recoup money the banks lent to Parmalat, or fees associated with financing deals they undertook for the company.
While Judge Harris rejected one of Mr. Bondi's claims, that Citigroup essentially helped to "deepen" Parmalat's insolvency, he let stand a claim that the world's largest bank violated provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, known as RICO. In New Jersey, RICO violations can result in treble damages.
The Citigroup case is the most advanced of the legal actions Mr. Bondi has undertaken in the U.S. Other courts have yet to rule on the motions to dismiss Mr. Bondi's cases brought by Bank of America, Deloitte & Touche and Grant Thornton.
新泽西州法官允许帕玛拉特对花旗的诉讼继续进行
新泽西州高等法院的一位法官驳回了花旗集团(Citigroup Inc., C)的一项动议。该动议要求法院驳回目前经营意大利奶制品巨头帕玛拉特(Parmalat SpA)的特别管理人Enrico Bondi针对花旗集团提起的诉讼。
此项裁决为审理花旗集团在帕玛拉特破产这一欧洲有史以来最大的公司欺诈案中扮演的角色创造了条件，并标志著Bondi在美国赢得了首次重大法律胜利。过去6个月以来，Bondi针对帕玛拉特的前银行家和审计师发起了一系列法律行动，指控他们合谋欺诈，致使公司帐目出现140亿欧元的黑洞。
在提交给新泽西州高等法院的诉讼中，Bondi寻求花旗集团支付高达100亿美元的赔偿金。花旗集团此前未能促使此案移交到纽约的美国联邦法院审理，一直在寻求法院驳回Bondi的起诉。
Bondi的发言人拒绝就上述裁决置评。
花旗集团也没有立即对裁决发表评论。
