Tesco face SFO investigation into account irregularities

The Tesco saga continues to deepen this week with the announcement that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will carry out a criminal investigation into accounting irregularities.

Last week, the supermarket announced that profits had been overstated by £263m, up from an initial estimate, made last month, of £250m. The inflated profit figure was the result of Tesco bringing forward rebates from suppliers. Two weeks ago it was reported that global head of Beer, Wine & Spirits Dan Jago was suspended along with 3 other executives, following the initial suspension of 5 executive when the news first broke at the beginning of the month. Tesco has said there was no evidence of personal gain from the mis-statement of profits.