A federal judge has dismissed lawsuits against the auditing firm Grant Thornton International and Bank of America Corp. over the collapse of Parmalat Finanziaria SpA into bankruptcy in 2003.
In an order Friday, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan dismissed a lawsuit by Enrico Bondi, chief executive of the reorganized Parmalat, against Grant Thornton and its U.S. business, Grant Thornton LLP. On Friday, the judge also dismissed separate lawsuits by a Parmalat subsidiary, Parmalat Capital Finance Ltd., against Bank of America and Grant Thornton.
Bank of America separately settled with Bondi earlier this year, agreeing to pay $100 million to resolve the case.
Parmalat Finanziaria SpA collapsed in 2003 under billions of dollars in debt after an accounting scandal.
A Bank of America spokesman said in a statement: "It has been our view all along that Parmalat Capital Finance, a participant in the fraud, was not entitled to seek damages from Bank of America, which had no knowledge of the fraud and was damaged by it. We are pleased that the court has agreed."
