Former senior officials at scandal-hit Italian food giant Parmalat will be questioned again today by prosecutors trying to unravel a multi-billion-euro fraud at the company.
Prosecutors in Milan and Parma are due to quiz ex-finance directors Mr Fausto Tonna and Mr Luciano Del Soldato along with Mr Gianpaolo Zini, a lawyer for Parmalat's disgraced chief Mr Calisto Tanzi, judicial sources said.
They were arrested on Wednesday along with two Parmalat accountants and the chairman and a partner of the Italian affiliate of auditors Grant Thornton in a sudden widening of the inquiry into one of the world's biggest corporate scandals.
Mr Lorenzo Penca, who quit as head of Grant Thornton hours after his arrest, and partner Mr Maurizio Bianchi are also due to face questioning today.
Parmalat - known around the world for its long-life milk - has been declared insolvent after revelations of a multi-billion-euro accounting hole. It is now under the management of turnaround expert Mr Enrico Bondi.
The spotlight is also turning to Parmalat's bankers who provided loans to the company and arranged an estimated €8 billion in bond sales between 1997 and 2002.
Newspaper La Repubblica quoted Judge Guido Piffer saying in a legal document that investigators needed to clarify "the role of the credit institutions which granted the group credit despite a precarious financial situation".