TESCO BOSSES ON TRIAL FOR COOKING THE BOOKS
THREE former Tesco chiefs are accused of “cooking the books” in a scandal which wiped £2billion off the supermarket giants’ total share value.
Carl Rogberg, 50, Chris Bush, 51, and John Scouler, 49, are alleged to have been involved in a “white-collar crime” plot in which they failed to correct inaccurately recorded income figures.
The figures were given to auditors, employees and the wider market. Tesco’s former finance chief, managing director and food commercial head were investigated after the company were found to have inflated their profits.
They were later charged with false accounting and fraud between February and September 2014.
Southwark Crown Court heard yesterday that on September 22 that year, Tesco announced they had previously overestimated their profits by £250million.
Sasha Wass QC told the jury: “Not only did Tesco shares fall by nearly 12 per cent, wiping over £2billion off the total share value, but the credibility of Tesco itself and indeed the credibility of the stock market had been undermined.”
She went on: “All three defendants were aware that income was being wrongly included in the financial records of the company, which were used to inform the stock market.
“Each of the defendants was aware that this would lead to the company looking financially healthier than it actually was and it would result in Tesco’s trading profits being overstated.”
Rogberg, Bush and Scouler deny the charges. The trial continues. WHEN Strictly’s producers suggested lifelong Liverpool fan Simon Rimmer dance his waltz to You’ll Never Walk Alone, he did not have to think twice.
But the TV chef knows no matter how hard he concentrates on the steps tonight, the Anfield anthem will trigger memories of the fateful day in 1989 when 96 people lost their lives at Hillsborough.
Simon, 54, was there that day and witnessed the tragedy.
Nearly 30 years later, he still feels lucky to have escaped with his life. The pressure to do justice to a song that “means the world” to him is immense.
Simon said: “It will probably make me feel emotional, I feel it now just talking about it. It’s not only Liverpool’s theme tune before every game, it’s got that association with Hillsborough. I was at Hillsborough that day, so it has an even more poignant meaning to me.
“I’m focused and determined and I’m working my backside off but there’s an extra dimension with it being You’ll Never Walk Alone.
“I stood and watched that tragedy unfold. So aside from the lovely things that You’ll Never Walk Alone gives me, it is also so synonymous with that terrible day.”
A boy from his school, Graham Roberts, was among the victims. And Simon, a father of two, has since become friends with Jenni Hicks, a customer at one of his pubs who lost daughters Sarah and Vicki. He is also mates with Kenny Dalglish, who was the club’s manager at the time.
Simon said: “I wasn’t an active participant in the justice campaign but certainly a fervent supporter.”
He found it overwhelming last April, when it was finally ruled that the 96 victims had been unlawfully killed rather than being victims of “accidental death”.
“I genuinely cried all day,” said Simon. “I ended up coming home at lunchtime, when the decision was made, I just couldn’t cope with being in work.
“I was an emotional wreck. At last, those families were going to get some closure. That was the biggest thing.
“It was one of the greatest moments in British legal history and showed the power of the individuals who said, ‘You know what, I refuse to accept this’.”
Simon was at the match with five of his mates, all hugely affected by the horrors they witnessed as the crowd were crushed, panic broke out and lifeless bodies were lifted on to the pitch.
He was 26 and after a frightening experience in the Leppings Lane stand as Liverpool played Sheffield away a year earlier, he and his pals had decided against standing there that day.
Simon said: “There was a terrible crush and we had made the decision not to go into the stand again because it had felt frightening.
“The horrible thing was, as we watched it unfold, we knew how it had felt the previous year. So that day and every single day that year, my friends and I just had that feeling of, ‘We were lucky’.”
This week, Simon took Strictly partner
SIMON RIMMER