Tesco Suspends Three Executives Amid £250m Accounting Scandal Investigation

Tesco has suspended three more employees as the embattled grocer completes an internal review and a Financial Conduct Authority investigation into how it overstated its profits by £250m last month.

In a statement sent to IBTimes UK, Tesco said it has asked the three anonymous employees to step aside, after it had already put four other executives, including UK managing director Chris Bush, food commercial director John Scouler and the head of food sourcing, Matt Simister, on temporary leave.

"We have asked three employees to step aside to facilitate the investigation into the potential overstatement of profits in UK food for the first half of the year. We will provide an update on the investigation with our interim results on 23 October," said Tesco.

On 23 September Tesco parachuted in the former chief financial officer for Marks & Spencer, Alan Stewart, to help turn around the company.

Stewart was brought in more than two months ahead of schedule after Laurie McIlwee left just over a week ago.

Tesco had already cut its full-year profit forecast from £2.8bn (€3.5bn, $4.5bn) to £2.4bn in August.

Tesco has also launched an internal investigation, led by Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte.

The FCA has since announced an investigation into the retailer while the Financial Reporting Council said it is observing the developments and may launch a probe after the results of the internal investigation are published.

Meanwhile, the retailer is allegedly drawing up a list of potential successors for the role of chairman in case Richard Broadbent decides to step down after the completion of reviews and investigations into the retailer's accounting scandal.