Prosecutors in Turin have placed a manager at Barbie-making toy giant Mattel under investigation for suspected gross negligence in connection with a recent worldwide recall of millions of potentially dangerous toys, judicial sources said on Friday.
They did not reveal the name of the American manager concerned but press sources said it could be Mattel Chief Executive Robert Eckert, who represents the multinational from a legal point of view.
The probe, headed by top Turin Prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello, was opened immediately after the mid-August withdrawal of some 18 million Mattel toys made in China.
More than 9.5 million toys were recalled in the US and 11 million in other countries including Italy, where at least 30,000 were removed from store shelves.
The safety scare was linked to the paint on some of the toys, which contained too much lead, and to the presence of small magnets in others which were capable of being dislodged and hence swallowed by children.
The affected toys included Barbie, Batman and Cars products.
Turin investigators said they were about to carry out chemical tests on some of the seized toys to determine the level of hazard.
