Not only did Citigroup defeat a $1.92 billion lawsuit filed against it by Parmalat SA’s new management yesterday, it successfully pursued its own counterclaim against the company. A New Jersey state court jury found that Citigroup did not help corrupt executives at Parmalat loot the Italian dairy before the company collapsed in 2003, and that Parmalat committed fraud, negligent misrepresentation and conversion, also known as theft, and must pay Citigroup $364.2 million in damages, Bloomberg reports.
According to Bloomberg, Citigroup must now present the judgment to a bankruptcy court in Parma, Italy. If the judgment is authorized in that court, Citigroup would likely receive about 18.8 million Parmalat shares.
Jurors deliberated for three days before returning a verdict in a trial that began May 15.
In his closing argument, Theodore V. Wells, Jr. of law firm Paul, Weiss reportedly delivered the following classic line on behalf of Citigroup:
“Citi was mugged. It’s like somebody robbed you, put a gun, took your money and then somebody later on criticized you. ‘Oh, you should have done some jujitsu and beat the robber up. It’s your fault you got robbed.’ It’s an insanity.”
