Tesco PLC

The SFO entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Tesco Stores Limited on 10 April 2017.

Through the DPA Tesco Stores Limited accepted responsibility for false accounting practices. Between February and September 2014, instead of working to safeguard the financial interests of the company and its shareholders, a culture existed at Tesco that encouraged illegal practices to meet accounting targets, including improperly recognised income in the UK accounts, by ‘pulling forward’ income from subsequent reporting periods.

Carl Rogberg, John Scouler and Christopher Bush, former Tesco employees who held senior management roles in the Tesco UK business, were charged over allegations of fraud and false accounting on 9 September 2016.

John Scouler and Christopher Bush were acquitted of all charges after Sir John Royce ruled that they had no case to answer at trial. This decision was upheld in the Court of Appeal on 5 December 2018. A third defendant, Carl Rogberg, was severed from the trial. The SFO offered no evidence at a hearing on 23 January 2019 and Mr Rogberg was acquitted of all charges.

Terms of DPA

Under the DPA, Tesco agreed to pay a £129m fine and £3m investigation costs. The company also undertook and implemented an ongoing compliance programme during the three year term of the DPA.

On 7 April 2020, the SFO served a Notice of Discontinuance on the Court, confirming that Tessco Stores Ltd had fuly complied with the terms of the DPA. The three-year term of the DPA came to end on 10 April 2020.

The Notice of Discontinunce is published below.

Notice of DPA Discontinuance – SFO v Tesco Stores Ltd

Full information on the DPA is available in the Statement of Facts, agreed by the SFO and Tesco Stores Ltd. The Agreement itself and Sir Brian Leveson’s judgment are published below.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement – SFO v Tesco Stores Ltd

Deferred Prosecution Agreement – Statement of Facts – SFO v Tesco Stores Ltd

Judgment of Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench Division

Information about how Deferred Prosecution Agreements work in the UK is here.