Mounties charge

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has launched a criminal investigation into accounting practices at the equipment manufacturer Nortel Networks following a review of its finances which has lasted several months. The RCMP’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team has written to the company advising it of the probe. Financial regulators in the US have also subpoenaed company documents as part of its own criminal investigation. Nortel has already fired several executives and put others on paid leave as it examined the alleged accounting irregularities. The manufacturer says it will “cooperate fully with the RCMP in connection with the investigation”.