Hedge funds fear that the black hole opening up in the finances of Parmalat, the crumbling Italian food group, has reached €14bn ($17.3bn), as at least 1,000 of its investors lobby the legal authorities to recover losses.

One source at a US-based arbitrage fund said: "That number is based on what we know so far. If there are any further derivatives transactions, or other forms of off-balance sheet financing, for example, it could well be much more."