[ by Howard Haykin ] Barclays Plc offices in Milan were searched and documents seized by Italian prosecutors, as part of a fraud and market-manipulation investigation related to the Euribor benchmark interest rate.  Police took files dating from 2007 through 2012, including e-mails. Barclays, U.K.’s 2nd-largest bank and the only bank to take a hit for manipulating Libor, now faces potential charges related to Euribor, the equivalent of Libor, but quoted in euros.  U.K. fraud prosecutors yesterday said they will investigate the manipulation of Libor and other interest rates after deciding that existing British criminal law covers the conduct involved. Italian consumer groups Adusbef and Federconsumatori, who filed a complaint earlier this summer, estimate that manipulation has affected 2.5 million Italian households with mortgages tied to Euribor – costing them €3 billion, the equivalent of $3.7 billion. Barclays is presently short on senior executives - CEO Robert Diamond Jr., Chairman Marcus Agius and COO Jerry del Missier all have stepped down since the bank settled the Libor investigation with the CFTC and the FSA.  Their departures were followed by Alison Carnwath, head of the British bank’s remuneration committee.   [Bloomberg, 7/31/12]