Ahold's AH flagship store is in talks with suppliers about its payments

A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor's office told BBC News Online they had received documents from Ahold on 8 April, although he did want to elaborate on the nature of the investigation.

He said the prosecutor's office was studying the documents and would decide "in a matter of weeks" whether to go ahead with a full investigation.

The world's number three retailer is already under scrutiny from the American stock market watchdog and a federal grand jury in Manhattan in Europe's worst accounting scandal.

The Swedish connection?

On Wednesday, Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad quoted anonymous sources in the prosecutor's office saying the probe focused on secret letters relating to Ahold's Swedish joint-venture ICA.

The paper reported that Ahold had counted the results in full in its results, but was not entitled to do so because it had only built up a large minority stake in the joint-venture.

An Ahold spokeswoman, refusing to comment on the alleged Swedish connection, told BBC News Online Ahold had handed over documents with regards to "consolidation issues" relating to all of Ahold's joint ventures.

It is the first time Dutch prosecutors have publicly admitted to an investigation into Ahold.

Albert Heijn

The news comes as Ahold's flagship supermarket chain, Albert Heijn, is in the middle of talks with its suppliers about a revision of its payment structure.

Albert Heijn's plan to extend the period in which it needs to pay off goods delivered to its supermarkets had infuriated one of its key suppliers, the Anglo-Dutch food and soap giant Unilever.

Heineken and Unilever both confirmed they were in talks with the retailer about the terms of payment but declined to comment on the outcome.

Ahold has denied that the changes to Albert Heijn's payment structure had anything to do with its recent accounting problems.

But the Ahold spokeswoman did admit the timing of the review "did create suspicion."

She said the changes had been planned months ago.

"Albert Heijn is trying to bring its payment terms in line with that of its competitors," she said.

Accounting scandal

In February, Ahold shocked investors after it admitted it had overstated profits at its US Foodservice in 2001 and 2002 by more than $500m (�318m).

Ahold's celebrity chief executive, Cees van der Hoeven, and finance director Michiel Meurs resigned in one of the worst corporate scandals ever to hit the Netherlands.

Ahold, once the darling of small Dutch investors and the stock market alike, has seen its shares slump almost two-thirds in value since the scandal became public.