Three Tesco former executives have been charged as part of an ongoing Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into 2014 accounting irregularities at the supermarket giant.
Advertisement
The trio, who worked under former chief executive Philip Clarke, have been questioned over their role in the scandal, which saw a £326 million black hole uncovered in Tesco’s accounts in 2014.
Carl Rogberg, Christopher Bush and John Scouler, who were suspended over the scandal, have been charged with fraud by abuse of position, the SFO said in a statement.
The SFO said the investigation into the company remains ongoing.
Tesco said that it was continuing to cooperate with prosecutors.
Tesco said it has introduced a programme of extensive change in the last two years and could not comment further.
The men, who are scheduled to appear in a London court September 22, and their lawyers either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Three men have been charged with fraud relating to the missing money.
It added that the allegations facing the men related to activity between February 2014 and September 2014 and it was yet to conclude its inquiry, which began nearly two years ago.
Tesco is one of the world’s biggest retailers, but has struggled to compete in Britain with low-priced rivals such as Aldi and Lidl.
“We are aware of the SFO’s announcement, but as this is an ongoing investigation unrelated to TalkTalk we can not comment further”.
Advertisement
The impact of the probe, and subsequent internal investigations and accounting write-downs, led to Tesco reporting its biggest loss on record of £6.4bn for the year to February 2015.
