Tesco facing US court case as four firms sue over 2014 accounting scandal
Tesco is being sued by a group of US funds over the 2014 accounting scandal which caused the supermarket's share price to collapse.
In September last year, the company revealed that its profits had been overstated by £263m and the aftermath saw shares drop to a ten-year low.
The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western & Southern Financial Group, Integrity Life Insurance and Touchstone Strategic Trust filed a complaint in an Ohio court last week. The companies have accused Tesco of “recklessly” disregarding facts and “dramatically” overstating profits.
The £263m overstatement was the result of Tesco's system for booking commercial income from suppliers – the company was paying suppliers later and taking money from them earlier than it should have.
Tesco declined to comment.