Tesco execs in South Korea could face prosecution in latest scandal development
South Korean Tesco executives will potentially be prosecuted over claims the company sold customer data without obtaining proper permissions.
Tesco is already embroiled in a £250m accounting scandal and this latest development in South Korea marks the involvement of its largest market outside the UK.
It is alleged that Homeplus, Tesco’s South Korean counterpart, sold the “personal information” of over five million customers to insurance firms.
Now under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority, Deloitte, the law firm Freshfields, and others, Tesco will publish its interim results later this week.
It is anticipated that these will shed some light on the inquiry and the infamous £250m black hole in the company's profit guidance.
Company executives in South Korea, including chief executive Sung-Hwan Do, have been warned not to leave the country.
Tesco's pattern of “inappropriate behaviour” includes misleading auditors and accountants about supplier payments.
The firm is expected to publish trading profits of around £850m for the six months to the end of August, nearly half of the £1.6bn it recorded in the same period in 2013.
So far, the retailer has elected not to comment.