Parmalat Staffer Dies in Plunge From Bridge

A longtime Parmalat employee who had been questioned by investigators plunged to his death from a bridge near Parma, Italy, in an apparent suicide, as authorities searched another bank office and again questioned the company’s jailed founder about the dairy giant’s massive fraud scandal.

Alessandro Bassi had worked closely with two jailed former company financial managers, Italian news reports said. Bassi had been questioned by investigators in the last days but wasn’t considered a suspect, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors interrogated Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi in a Milan hospital after he was transferred there from prison for medical tests.

Deutsche Bank offices were searched and documents were being studied because of a $445-million bond issue that the bank placed for Parmalat in late September.