Citigroup, the world's biggest bond house, yesterday launched a counter lawsuit against Enrico Bondi, the new chief executive of collapsed Italian dairy group Parmalat and said it would never have done business with the company if it had known the truth about its finances.

The countersuit, which was filed in the New Jersey State court in response to a claim brought in July 2004 by Bondi against Citigroup, came as Milan prosecutors accused Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and UBS, as well as Italian asset manager Nextra, of helping Parmalat mislead investors, according to Reuters.