Calisto Tanzi, the founder of Parmalat, went on trial in Italian northern city Milan on Wednesday almost two years after a multi-billion-dollar fraud scandal at the dairy group rocked the financial community.

Tanzi and 15 other defendants face a range of charges, including market rigging, false auditing, misleading investors and hindering the regulatory activities of bourse watchdog Consob. All deny wrongdoing, Italian media reported on Wednesday.

Most of the defendants, who include former Parmalat and Bank of America employees and two ex-Deloitte and Touche auditors, were not present in court.

Tanzi entered the packed courtroom via a side door an hour after the hearing opened.

Observers said Tanzi might have arrived late to avoid confronting a throng of angry investors gathered outside the court.

Parmalat's scandal - dubbed "Europe's Enron" - left more than 150,000 investors with virtually worthless bonds. Many of them are hoping for compensation in the trial.

Tanzi's lawyers are expected to argue that their client, who faces a maximum jail term of 10 years, had not known about or approved the sale of bonds to small investors.

Dozens of Italian and international banks are accused of selling Parmalat bonds to small investors even when they knew the company was failing.

The Italian dairy giant's financial implosion began in December 2003, when Bank of America declared that a document claiming Bonlat had almost four billion euros in an account with the bank was a forgery.

The case escalated, eventually leading to Parmalat's collapse into bankruptcy amid debts of 14.9 billion euros and a fraud scandal which rocked the Italian financial world.

Source: Xinhua