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Ahold Scandal Puts Focus on Corporate Accountability

01 Mar 2003

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News of Royal Ahold's $500 million accounting fib has The Economist and other observers calling it the Enron of Europe. In addition to overstating its profits, the Dutch foodservice giant has been accused of bribing officials in Argentina and giving off-the-books "bonuses" to US executives.

While the source of the accusations is an unsubstantiated anonymous letter, Dutch regulators are investigating the claims.

While Ahold may not be found guilty of this type of wrongdoing, it is well known that large big-box retailers often cut corners in developing countries and transitional economies.

ITDP has compiled dossiers on some of the worst offenders, which are available in our Information Center:

  • Auchan (20K)
  • Carrefour (22K)
  • Metro (16K)
  • Tesco (20K)