Ahold Execs Guilty of Fraud

AMSTERDAM — The executives in charge as Dutch retailer Royal Ahold plunged into one of Europe’s worst financial scandals were convicted of fraud Monday but let off with a fine and no prison time as judges found they bore little criminal guilt.

The court fined former CEO Cees van der Hoeven and former Chief Financial Officer Michiel Meurs about $290,000 each and gave them nine-month suspended sentences.

The verdict came more than three years after Ahold -- known for operating grocery stores around the world, including the Stop & Shop and Giant chains in the United States -- found itself on the brink of bankruptcy amid an accounting scandal that spanned several years.

However, Monday’s judgment covered a different, smaller part of the scandal: Ahold’s claims to investors that it controlled companies in Brazil, Argentina and Scandinavia when it owned only 50% of them and control was in dispute.