The former CEO and CFO of Dutch retailer Ahold have agreed to pay a combined EUR5.6m (US$7.9m) to settle claims dating back to the company’s accounting scandal of 2003.

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Former chief executive Cees Van der Hoeven will pay Ahold EUR5m and give up his EUR4.5m claim against the company.


Ex-Ahold CFO Michiel Meurs has struck a similar deal; he will pay Ahold EUR600,000 and waive hid claim of over EUR2m against the retailer.


The settlements date from 2003 when Ahold went to the brink of bankruptcy. Both men resigned and it then emerged that the company had overstated earnings by over EUR1bn from 1999 to 2002.


Last year, Van der Hoeven and Meurs were fined by a Dutch court and given 9-month suspended sentences, a decision under appeal by both sides.

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