AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, July 7 (UPI) -- A Dutch public prosecutor said Monday a criminal investigation has been started into possible falsification of accounts at the Ahold supermarket company.
The Wall Street Journal said the announcement signals publicly for the first time that investigations into the company's accounting irregularities could expand beyond Ahold's U.S. foodservice unit.
The world's third-largest supermarket retailer, Ahold owns the Giant, Tops and Stop & Shop supermarket chains in the United States. It has now become embroiled in one of Europe's biggest corporate-accounting scandals.
Ever since Ahold announced on Feb. 24 that it had discovered accounting irregularities at its U.S. foodservice unit, most of the regulatory scrutiny has been focused on the food distributor in Columbia, Md.
But, in a statement Monday, the Dutch public prosecutor's office said it was examining the possible falsification of accounts at Ahold and the publication of potentially inaccurate data in annual reports.
