Macy’s says internal control not effective after employee made entries to hide $154 million

(Reuters) – Macy’s (NYSE:M) said on Thursday a re-evaluation of its financials showed that the department store chain’s internal control, including proper record maintenance, was not effective as of February this year.

The retailer had initiated an evaluation in late November after it found that an employee hid as much as $154 million in expenses over the years. Consequently, the company delayed its third-quarter results to Dec. 11.

Macy’s said its CEO Tony Spring and financial chief Adrian Mitchell, under the board’s oversight, re-evaluated the effectiveness of the internal control and noted that its financial reporting was not effective as of Feb. 3, due to the material weakness.

The department store chain said it was implementing changes to improve its internal control and to remediate the material weakness.