UPDATE 1-Bank Hapoalim wins Parmalat verdict against Intesa

* Israeli bank wins $24 million jury verdict--law firm

* Bank accused Italy's Intesa of fraud in note sale

* Parmalat 2003 collapsed months after note sale

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A New York State court jury has ordered the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) to pay Israel's Bank Hapoalim BM (POLI.TA) $24 million in a fraud case relating to the 2003 collapse of Italian dairy company Parmalat, lawyers representing Hapoalim said.

The Manhattan jury on Wednesday awarded Hapoalim $14.6 million plus interest from May 2003, following a 12-day trial, the law firm Chadbourne & Parke LLP said.

Intesa and its U.S.-based lawyers did not immediately return requests for comment.

According to court papers, the former Banca Intesa had sold Hapoalim three $5 million notes as part of a scheme to generate money for Parmalat's South American units.

Hapoalim alleged that Intesa, one of Parmalat's lenders, knew when it sold the notes in May 2003 that Parmalat faced imminent collapse, which would occur in December of that year.

The notes were not repaid at maturity, leading to the lawsuit. Intesa subsequently bought Sanpaolo IMI to create Intesa Sanpaolo.

In a statement, Chadbourne said the jury found that Intesa committed fraud against Hapoalim, and aided and abetted fraud carried out by the Parmalat subsidiaries.

Burdened by about 14 billion euros ($21 billion) of debt, Parmalat filed for insolvency protection in Italy in December 2003. It collapsed after uncovering a 4 billion euro ($6 billion) hole in its balance sheet.

Best known for its long life milk, Parmalat SpA (PLT.MI), as the company is now known, was restructured following the collapse and relisted on the Milan bourse in 2005.

In a separate case, Parmalat appealed recent dismissals of its federal lawsuits accusing Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and auditor Grant Thornton LLP of fraud for their roles in the 2003 collapse. [ID:nN21511134]

The case is: Bank Hapoalim (Switzerland) v. Banca Intesa SpA, New York State Supreme Court, County of Manhattan, No. 601430/2004. (1 euro = $1.50) (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)