Ahold has been hit by Europe's worst accounting scandal and is also being investigated by the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) and the Dutch stock exchange Euronext.

"I can confirm that the Justice Department has requested these documents," an Ahold spokeswoman told Reuters.

But she could not confirm if the subpoenas were part of the Justice Department's criminal investigation.

Reports of the subpoenas surfaced on the weekend when internal company memos was posted on the internet.

Accounting irregularities

The memo said documents from 1 January 1999 to the present including financial statements, audits, budgets, board meeting minutes and details of a promotional programme were all sought.

Ahold last Monday announced it had found accounting irregularities related to about $500m in profits mainly at its US unit Foodservice.

The company said the irregularities only began in 2001.

The admission sent Ahold's shares tumbling by about 65% since last week and lost a further 4.7% on Tuesday to hit a 15-year low of 3.43 euros.

The group's chief executive and chief financial officer resigned after the revelations.

Foodservice has reportedly warned its workers not to destroy any documents.