Albertsons files lawsuit accusing Haggen of fraud

Supermarket giant Albertsons has filed a lawsuit against Haggen, accusing the grocer of fraud in failing to pay more than $36 million as part of the sale of 146 grocery stores.

Haggen, a Pacific Northwest chain, bought those stores from Albertsons and Safeway, which were forced by the Federal Trade Commission to sell them as part of a merger. Among the stores are 83 in California, including six in San Luis Obispo County.

According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in California, Albertsons says that Haggen refused to pay for $36 million of inventory at 32 stores it acquired. Nearly $5 million in inventory at an additional six stores was past due Tuesday — bringing the total to more than $41 million, the complaint said.

Haggen waited until deals closed on all 146 stores before notifying Albertsons that it would not pay for the inventory, the lawsuit alleged. The reasons — related to unspecified issues that Haggen contends occurred during the acquisition process — are "baseless," the lawsuit said.

In a statement, Haggen said it notified Albertsons in June of Albertsons' violations under the purchase agreement and possible further violations related to requirements of the Federal Trade Commission and various state attorneys general. Haggen declined to disclose those alleged violations. Read more at latimes.com »

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 2:43 PM.