The founder of the Italian food giant Parmalat has admitted misappropriating hundreds of millions of euro of company funds.
Mr Calisto Tanzi, under arrest for suspected financial crimes at the insolvent dairy firm, at the centre of a massive fraud scandal, made the admission during questioning at Milan's San Vittore prison, lawyer Fabio Belloni told Reuters.
"He admitted diverting funds," Mr Belloni said, adding Mr Tanzi said he had funneled around €500 million away from Parmalat and into other companies, including Parmatour, a family owned tourism company.
Mr Tanzi's admission came after authorities had accused him of embezzling more than €800 million from his food conglomerate over the past decade.
A judicial source said the 65-year-old former Parmalat chief had also admitted falsifying company accounts.
Mr Tanzi resigned as Parmalat's chairman and chief executive two weeks ago amid one of Europe's biggest corporate scandals. He was arrested at the weekend and held in jail on suspicion of financial crimes, including fraud, false accounting and market rigging.
Neither he nor any of the 20-odd others under investigation have been charged.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Monday it was filing a suit against Parmalat seeking substantial fines.