Italian prosecutors have ordered the arrest of eight people suspected of involvement in the fraud scandal that has engulfed Italian food giant Parmalat.
Among those targeted are two former Parmalat chief financial officers, Mr Fausto Tonna and Mr Luciano Del Soldato, and two executives at the Italian affiliate of the Grant Thornton auditing group, sources said.
Police immediately acted on the warrants and by mid-morning most of the six suspects had been seized, the sources said.
The founder and former chairman of Parmalat, Mr Calisto Tanzi, was seized on Saturday as prosecutors continued to investigate what US regulators have called one of the "most brazen corporate financial frauds in history".
Mr Tanzi, who built Parmalat into a global company employing 35,000 people, admitted on Monday that he diverted some €500 million from the publicly-listed company into firms owned by the Tanzi family.
He also said there was a hole of about eight billion in Parmalat accounts.
Today's arrest warrants were issued on suspicion of false accounting and fraudulent bankruptcy.
Police this morning also moved against Parmalat accountants Mr Gianfranco Bocchi and Mr Claudio Pessina.
The Grant Thornton executives were named as company chairman Mr Lorenzo Penca and partner Mr Maurizio Bianchi.
Prosecutors believe that Tanzi, helped by an inner circle of advisers, falsified Parmalat accounts for years and embezzled more than €800 million euros, saddling the group with debts they estimate at between €10 billion and €13 billion.
With details of the balance-sheet fraud still emerging, Judge Guido Salvini in Milan yesterday rejected a request by Mr Tanzi to be released from San Vittore jail where he has been held since Saturday and placed under house arrest.
Judge Salvini said there was "a real danger of evidence being polluted" if Mr Tanzi was allowed home.
Meanwhile, investigators are also checking bank accounts at Bank of America, it has emerged.
A police source said the checks followed the seizure of documents and computer data in recent days at the office of a Parmalat subsidiary.
No comment was immediately available from Bank of America in London.