Corporate culture at major brands under scrutiny, says expert

Anti-corruption law specialist Barry Vitou of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the charges brought against Carl Rogberg, Christopher Bush, and John Scouler should serve as a warning to boardroom executives at other major brands.

Vitou has said that the new prime minister and government seem determined to improve corporate culture and that the political will for tackling economic crime and irresponsible behaviour by businesses appears to be significant.

Rogberg, former finance director of Tesco, Bush, the company's former managing director, and Scouler, former commercial director for food at the retailer, each were charged by the SFO with one count of fraud by abuse of position and one count of false accounting.

The SFO said the alleged offences took place between February 2014 and September 2014. The regulator opened a criminal investigation into Tesco in October 2014 in relation to a profit overstatement made by the company. Tesco has said that its overstatement, by £263m, was due to "accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs". The SFO's investigation "remains ongoing", it said.

Vitou said: "The charges further underscore that when the SFO says it means business, it means business. With a government focus on corporate culture, the SFO’s investigations into a roster of some of the most well known corporate names in the UK are firmly in the sweet spot of the present prime minister. UK PLC should take note."