Fraud in Thai plant

EssilorLuxoticca, the world’s largest manufacturer of frames and lenses, has discovered fraudulent financial activities at one of its plants in Thailand. In a statement the company said that its subsidiary, Essilor International, has launched an investigation and was ‘taking all possible actions to seek to recover the misappropriated funds in order to mitigate the impact.’

The fraudulent activity could result in a €190m hit to the eyewear group, which was formed from a merger of French company Essilor and Italy-based Luxottica in 2017. Shares in the company fell by 3% when the news was announced yet still remain nearly 20% up from the beginning of 2019.