Officials call an end to Tesco investigation
Authorities have ended a fiveyear investigation into Tesco’s accountants over a £250 million accounting scandal.
The Financial Reporting Council said it would close its probe into the supermarket giant’s accounts for the financial years ending between February 2012 and 2014.
The watchdog had set out to uncover what led Tesco to overstate its profits by £250m over the three years. It announced the investigation in September 2014.
The move now closes another chapter in the saga that has bugged chief executive Dave Lewis since just after he started in the job.
Weeks after taking the role, a whistleblower contacted Lewis about a potential overstatement in the company’s accounts.
Inquiries led Lewis, who announced his departure from the retailer last year, to discover a scheme that led to a black hole in Tesco’s accounts.
The business had been banking profits from its suppliers before the money actually dropped into its account.
The scandal revealed a toxic relationship between the supermarket and its suppliers. Under former boss Philip Clarke, Tesco pushed its suppliers for heavy discounts, and for incentives to put their products in prominent places in stores.
Tescoendedupsigningadeal with the Serious Fraud Office in 2017. The firm paid a £129m fine, and £85m in compensation to investors, and the SFO promised not to prosecute it. Prosecutors brought charges against individuals within Tesco, but the cases later fell apart for lack of evidence.