A 10 Years Old Law Suit, Won by Grant Thornton

Thursday, April 18, 2013 Print Email

Almost a 10 years old lawsuit has been dismissed, in favor of Grant Thornton. The lawsuit was related to the accusation of the auditor of professional misconduct, civil conspiracy and fraud that caused the crumple of Italian dairy company Parmalat in 2003. The suit was then transferred to federal district court in New York City.

Grant Thornton requested the federal district court in Chicago to discharge the suit in spite of sending it to state court.

The case was lately taken over by Darrah. Darrah on April 9 in his decision discarded Bondi's attempts to move the proceedings to Cook County Circuit Court, an Illinois state court.

US District Judge John Darrah discharged the suit on summary judgment and adopted the results of preceding verdict, on 9 April, in his decision.

Darrah decided that Parmalat was not exempted from a legal doctrine that prohibits a company from recovering damages for a fraud, by considering the 2009 outcome of a Manhattan federal judge in verdict against Parmalat and Enrico Bondi, in which Parmalat was a willing applicant.

“These cases have remained unresolved for nearly ten years, and it is unlikely that a remand back to state court will result in more timely dispositions of the cases,” Darrah wrote. He added, “Grant Thornton’s motion to retain jurisdiction and enter judgment is granted.”

Darrah refused to move the case to an Illinois state court, he said that he would keep jurisdiction over the case. Bondi responded that there are still disputed matters on whether Illinois law would impose the legal doctrine, known as in pari delicto. Thomas Cushing, a lawyer for Bondi, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In 2003 insolvency protection suit was filed by Parmalat in Italy with approximately €14bn (£11.9bn) of debt by unveiling a €4bn rift in its balance sheet. Whereas several banks, auditors and others were sued by Bondi. He alleged them for assisting the insiders to pilfer the company. Parmalat completed its Italian reformation in October 2005. Parmalat gave the bondholders 50% of the new stock while Italian and foreign banks were provided with 30%.

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