Tesco fraud trial: Carl Rogberg heart attack puts a stop to Tesco trial

The fraud trial of three former Tesco executives has been discontinued after one of the defendants had a heart attack.

Former Tesco UK finance director Carl Rogberg had a heart attack last Thursday, it emerged today. He is in hospital.

He has been standing trial on charges of fraud and false accounting alongside former UK boss Chris Bush and the former head of commercial food John Scouler.

The jury has now been discharged by the judge. The Serious Fraud Office now has until early March to decide whether it will pursue a re-trial

The trial had already been subject to several delays, but had almost reached the stage when the jury would go out to deliberate on a verdict.

It began back in September, when the accused faced allegations that they had “misled” the stock market.

They were also accused of “bullying” staff into colluding with an accounting coverup.

Tesco’s current chief executive Dave Lewis was among those to give evidence in the trial.

The charges relate to the 2014 Tesco accounting scandal, when profits were overstated by around £250m.