8th Jun 2020 10:38
(Alliance News) - The Financial Reporting Council has ended its probe into accountants working within Tesco PLC without a formal complaint, the UK accounting watchdog announced on Monday.
The probe focused on the Welwyn Garden City, England-based grocer's GBP250 million profit overstatement in September 2014.
The FRC previously in August 2016 and June 2017 closed its investigations into Tesco's former Chief Financial Officer Laurie McIlwee and former auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
The watchdog, during its five-year probe, added a number of accountant employees within Tesco as subjects, but the investigations into these individuals was subsequently paused pending the Serious Fraud Office's trial of three non-accountant senior Tesco employees on charges relating to the profit overstatement.
"Following the conclusion of the SFO proceedings, and consideration of relevant material and information subsequently obtained from the SFO, Executive Counsel has decided to discontinue the matters in relation to each of the remaining subjects. Accordingly, the matter has been closed without service of a formal complaint," the FRC said.
The Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority had separately reached settlement deals with Tesco in 2017, which resulted in a combined fine of GBP214 million.
Shares in Tesco were down 0.3% at 227.00 pence each in London on Monday morning.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
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