Thomson parent 'was Enronesque'

THE owner of UK holiday operator Thomson has denied allegations from a former senior manager that it had manipulated its financial statements. Hans-Joachim Selenz, a former board member of TUI Preussag - the giant German travel firm that took over Thomson Holidays two years ago - has written to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US accusing the firm's accountants of 'Enronesque' behaviour.

He claims that auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers manipulated the balance sheets for the years 1996-1997. If the SEC takes up the investigation, it will be the first time it has probed a German company.

PwC rejected the allegations. 'Our duties to Preussag were correct and the allegations lack any basis in fact,' it said. 'The final report and accounting were all in order.'

German newspaper Die Welt reported the affair on its front page although rumours about the accounts have been around for some time.

Selenz says shareholders were cheated of premiums after the company sold assets such as flats and land without telling them. He also claims there were subsidies to subsidiary firms totalling 2.5bn Deutschmarks (£802m) that he calls 'accounting manipulation'.