UNITED KINGDOM - U.S. litigation firm Scott + Scott is calling on British shareholders to bring Tesco to court for billions of pounds lost to the company’s overstatement of profits last year.

These allegations come on the heels of Tesco’s admission last September of having artificially inflated profits for the first half of the year by £250 million (approximately $371 million U.S.), later corrected to £263 million (approximately $390 million U.S.). This was discovered to have been occurring at least two years by an internal investigation from the Deloitte accounting firm, according to The Guardian.

Scott + Scott is now funding the Tesco Shareholder Claims Limited (TSC), a group seeking to bring action against the company for causing “a permanent destruction of value to shareholders,” according to a statement made Tuesday.

“Tesco is one of the widest held stocks in the UK and this loss has hit pension funds and investors across the U.K. and beyond,” John Bradley, chairman of the TSC, said in the report. “We look forward to bringing this claim to court.”

The claim has already been filed, according to the Guardian, and Managing Partner David Scott said that the firm has also been asked to find a way to bring action against Tesco in the U.K. as well.

Though it is unlikely the claim will reach court until next year, the institutions in the U.S., U.K., and Europe are already discussing joining the claim with the TSC on a no-win, no-fee basis, according to the report.

Scott + Scott