The second trial resulting from the massive Parmalat fraud scandal begins in the company's hometown of Parma in northern Italy on Monday with 64 people accused of fraudulent bankruptcy.

Among the individuals facing fraud charges and in some cases criminal association, is Parmalat's founder and former CEO Calisto Tanzi, who, according to his lawyer, would not attend the hearings because he was having physical examinations.

Because of the number of defendants, Monday's preliminary hearing was moved to a bigger auditorium. The Italian media reported that the trial would begin proper later this year, in September or October at the earliest.

During the first phase of legal proceedings, Milan prosecutors opened a trial last September with 19 defendants facing charges of false accounting and manipulating share prices.

In the Milan trial, Tanzi asked the investors to forgive him, speaking of his "pain and remorse" at the collapse of his company, and its former finance director Fausto Tonna was sentenced to two and half years in prison.

Parmalat went under in December 2003 in a false accounting scam that resulted in estimated debts of 14.3 billion euros. The dairy multi-national's meltdown left more than 135,000 investors with virtually worthless bonds.

Source: Xinhua