Related Articles
Top Stories
May 25 2012 13:58
The costs of the first phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project have increased significantly to almost R90bn, according to a report.
May 25 2012 11:36
The JSE has identified and stopped "incorrect" trades from one of its members, and will reverse the trades and lower the session's total value after the close.
May 24 2012 17:31
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, and a considerable reduction in the local petrol price is anticipated, says governor Gill Marcus.
Amsterdam - Dutch shareholders’ association VEB said on Wednesday it is suing Deloitte and 178 of its current and former partners for damages over the firm’s involvement in Dutch retailer Ahold’s multi-billion-euro accounting scandal.
Ahold - which owns the Albert Heijn supermarket chain, the market leader in the Netherlands - revealed in 2003 its profits had been overstated by almost €1bn after an aggressive acquisition spree.
Dutch prosecutors went after former Chief Executive Cees van der Hoeven, who was convicted of fraud and given a suspended jail sentence.
VEB said it was seeking a court ruling on whether Deloitte, which was one of Ahold’s auditors during the period when it inflated profits, was responsible for issuing misleading opinions on Ahold’s financial statements.
“The VEB will press for compensation for affected investors. The exact damage still needs to be established. The total damage in the Ahold case amounted to many billions,” VEB said on Wednesday.
Deloitte said it had also been deceived by Ahold in the fraud and would defend itself against VEB’s legal action.
“The fraud was partly intended to deceive Deloitte as auditor. Several courts - including the Dutch criminal court, confirmed that over the years. Deloitte itself denounced the fraud,” it said.