Charges dropped against former Tesco executive Carl Rogberg in fraud trial
The case against the third defendant in the Tesco fraud trial Carl Rogberg has been dropped today.
Tesco executive Rogberg, 52, a former finance director at the supermarket giant, was charged with fraud, alongside fellow executives Chris Bush and John Scouler after a hole was found in Tesco’s accounts in 2014, wiping £1.5bn from its stock market value.
Today Rogberg was cleared at Southwark Crown Court. The case against Bush and Scouler collapsed last month after the judge Sir John Royce instructed the jury to acquit the pair because of insufficient evidence.
A first trial of the three former executives collapsed last year after Rogberg suffered a heart attack.
Tesco had previously agreed a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to the accounting scandal, agreeing to pay £129m in fines as part of the deal.
The contents of the DPA had been under reporting restrictions which have been lifted today.
Rogberg said: “It is a huge relief that this day has finally come. While I always had faith that it would, the journey here has not been an easy one. The trial has had enormous consequences on my health and exemplary career, as well as for my wife, my son, my family and my friends.”
He added: “The circumstances were never properly investigated by Tesco from the outset. They rushed to the wrong judgment and then entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO on a completely false basis. Truth and justice were abandoned for their commercial imperatives. Tesco needlessly paid over £129m in fines, not to mention the value that was lost in the company as a result of this fiasco. Their drastic action has been extremely damaging for Tesco’s employees, shareholders and pension funds.”