Tesco's suppliers to be involved in SFO investigation
Some of Tesco's suppliers are to be involved in the Serious Fraud Office's investigation over the stricken retail giant's accounting practices.
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The likes of Unilever and Diaegeo are set to be dragged into the investigation, with the SFO expected to interview staff of Tesco's providers as well as examine the documentation associated with the supermarket's supplier agreements.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the latest development in the SFO's investigation on Tesco will be implemented in 2015 and underlines the size of the scandal involving one of Britain's biggest retailers, which reported a £263m black hole in profits earlier this year.
The deficit was linked to the group’s commercial income, which is made up of payments and rebates from suppliers, and after conducting an internal investigation the retailer is understood to believe that a “small group” of people within the company deliberately misled its auditors and accountants to inflate its financial results.
Four Tesco executives have already left the retailer in the wake of the scandal.