Police have seized art worth some €100 million which they say belonged to Calisto Tanzi, the former head of dairy group Parmalat who was convicted in one of Italy's biggest cases of fraudulent bankruptcy, a magistrate said.
The chief prosecutor of Parma, Gerardo La Guardia, said the 19 paintings seized in recent raids included works by masters such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Modigliani and Cezanne.
They were hidden in the attics in two houses in the Parma area and found as part of an investigation into Tanzi's son-in-law, he said. After the paintings were found, Tanzi denied he was the owner.
Tanzi, who founded Parmalat, was sentenced last year to 10 years in jail for market-rigging which led to Parmalat's 2003 collapse when it folded with a €14 billion hole in its accounts. Tanzi has appealed against the sentence and is free awaiting the new trial.
Parmalat's demise wiped out the savings of more than 100,000 small investors.
A trial over the collapse of Parmalat is under way in Parma. Parmalat was restructured and relisted on the Milan bourse in 2005. Italy's biggest listed food company, it has recouped money from banks in settlements.