7th Oct 2015 05:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - The UK's Serious Fraud Office is weighing whether it will resolve a year-long criminal investigation into alleged accounting irregularities at Tesco PLC, the Financial Times reported.
The SFO has not ruled out the possibility of agreeing to a so-called deferred prosecution agreement with Tesco, the FT said, citing people familiar with the situation, but is currently focused on investigating individuals involved in the probe, including Philip Clarke, the retailer's former chief executive.
Clarke is one of around half a dozen former senior Tesco executives to have been interviewed under caution in recent months. Being interviewed under caution, when the individual is read their rights, is significant as it means the person is a formal suspect in the investigation. Laurie McIlwee, the former finance director, has been interviewed under the SFO's Section 2 powers, which means the individual is a witness rather than a suspect.
Tesco will publish its interim results on Wednesday morning.
https://next.ft.com/content/74d5577c-6c3e-11e5-8171-ba1968cf791a
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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