Walker on defensive over shares probe

Malcolm Walker, the Iceland frozen foods entrepreneur, yesterday continued his war of words with the company he founded as he responded to suggestions that the details of his controversial £13.5m share sale had been passed to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Mr Walker described as "pure speculation" reports that the Department of Trade and Industry had transferred the details of its investigation into his share dealings to the SFO.

Mr Walker also appeared to criticise Bill Grimsey, Big Food Group's chief executive, saying: "For his own reasons, my successor chose to implement new accounting policies but I cannot comment on that further."

But analysts believe the accounting changes only represented £2m-£3m of the profits fall the year after Mr Walker's share sale.

Mr Walker sold 4 million shares in the company at 339.5p in December 2000 just weeks before a profits warning. He quit as executive chairman soon afterwards having been forced to cut short a holiday in the Maldives in an attempt to clear his name.

On the possibility of an SFO investigation into the share sale, he said yesterday: "To my knowledge the DTI has been looking at this for two years and I have not heard from them for a year, nor to I expect to. It's entirely predictable that after an initial review this may, as part of the process, be passed to other departments for their considerations. My position is unchanged. I completely refute any suggestion of wrong doing in my sale of shares in December 2000."

The DTI would not comment on whether it had passed on the details of its investigations. Likewise, the SFO would not say if it had received them.

Big Food Group said: "This is a matter for Mr Walker and the appropriate authorities."

Big Food Group shares now trade at 57.5p after further trading setbacks. Mr Walker and the new management have been at war since his departure. He has set up a frozen food venture, Cool Trader, to compete against his former company. Mr Walker's camp has even accused Mr Grimsey and his management team of bulldozing flowerbeds of daffodils which Mr Walker had had planted at the group's North Wales head office. The company insists the daffodils are still there.