Ahold NV’s U.S
Foodservice unit, which faces a federal probe into whether it
inflated supplier rebates, may have failed to pass on millions of
dollars of rebates to U.S. government customers, the Wall Street
Journal said, citing current and former Foodservice managers.
Closely held supplier companies including Seafood Marketing
Specialists Inc., Produce Solutions Inc., based in Rhode Island,
and Commodity Management Systems Inc. in Chatham, New Jersey, gave
U.S. Foodservice rebates ranging from 4.3 percent to 18.5 percent
last year, the Journal said.
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U.S. Foodservice didn’t tell government customers about these
rebates or pass on the savings, it cited unidentified managers as
saying. The prices charged are competitive and, in the case of
contracts with the military, the company doesn’t have to pass on
the rebates, said Robert W. Gillison, U.S Foodservice’s vice
president and treasurer, the Journal reported.
Ahold, the Dutch owner of the U.S. Giant and Stop & Shop
supermarket chains, ousted its top two executives in February
after discovering earnings were inflated by at least $500 million
in 2001 and 2002. U.S. Foodservice improperly accounted for
payments it received from suppliers to promote products, Ahold
said at the time.
Bloomberg News
