LONDON (AFP) — British water group Severn Trent will face prosecution over claims that it handed false information to the country's water regulatory body, the government's fraud office said Thursday.
Severn Trent, which supplies water to about 3.7 million household and business customers in Britain, said it would cooperate fully with the criminal probe, whose start date has not been set.
"The Serious Fraud Office has informed Severn Trent Water Ltd that it is to be charged with offences concerning the provision of false information to the industry regulatory body, Ofwat," the SFO said in a statement.
It added: "A date for first court hearing in these criminal proceedings has yet to be fixed."
The alleged offences related to data on water leakage that Severn Trent submitted to Ofwat between 2000 and 2002.
The SFO said its investigation had begun in 2005 after Ofwat conducted its own inquiry into suspected reporting irregularities.
Severn Trent is based in Birmingham, central England.
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