MILAN (AFP) - The bankrupt Italian food group Parmalat said its special administrator Enrico Bondi has filed a US lawsuit against Bank of America.
The company did not say how much it was seeking from Bank of America but legal sources said Bondi was claiming 10 billion dollars (8.1 billion euros) in damages and interest from the bank.
The company said in a statement that the action was part of Bondi`s efforts to seek "recovery from third parties believed to have played a central role in Parmalats collapse."
Parmalat also said that in the next 15 years, it would distribute 50 percent of its profits to its future shareholders, including proceeds from legal actions.
The company has already filed lawsuits in the United States against banking giant Citigroup and accountants Deloitte and Touche, also claiming damages of 10 billion dollars in both cases.
Parmalat has also brought cases in Italy against several big international banks, claiming heavy damages with interest.
Bondi claims that Parmalat`s creditor banks organized a bond issue which had the ultimate aim of paying themselves back.
The group collapsed last December after about 14 billion euros (17.36 billion dollars) was found missing from its accounts, sparking one of Europe`s biggest financial scandal`s ever.
Italy`s judicial authorities on Tuesday began hearings into the Parmalat scandal which affected tens of thousands of small savers and pushed Italian and EU regulators into imposing tougher rules on high finance.
Two former auditors at the Italian food giant will become the first executives to stand trial.
The judge, who adjourned the case until October 29, must yet decide whether a further 27 individuals -- including Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi -- and three financial institutions must face trial on charges of market rigging, false corporate communications and obstruction.