Royal Ahold, the Dutch company that has sent shockwaves across a European establishment that had predicted that 'Enron couldn't happen here', has raised further questions about how far back its problems go.
According to the company, its accountant Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has said that it no longer stands behind its 2000 and 2001 audits for the company. This suggests that irregularities go back further than previously thought.
Accounting problems at US Foodservice had been stated as leading to an overstatement in corporate earnings by around $500m. The latest suggestion – made in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission – takes the potential irregularities to the year that Ahold actually bought US Foodservice.
