Earlier this morning, financial circles were rocked by Ahold's announcement that accounting irregularities had been discovered in relation to USF promo allowance programs. The $17.5-billion distributor's parent believes that USF operating earnings for 2001 and expected operating earnings for fiscal 2002 may have been overstated by more than US $500 million.
As a consequence of this and other unrelated problems, Ahold CEO Cees van der Hoeven and CFO Michael Meurs are resigning. In addition, certain senior executives of the USF purchasing and marketing management team have been suspended, while outside legal counsel and independent forensic accountants investigate.
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