The former head of a subsidiary of Alfred McAlpine, the support services group, has been charged with fraud and forgery in relation to an accounting scandal over exaggerated sales figures.

Christopher Law, a former managing director of Alfred McAlpine Slate, was charged with three separate offences relating to a three-year period during which the company, which quarried the slate used on the roof of Buckingham Palace, misrepresented sales in accounts filed to its parent.

In addition, Geraint Roberts, Alfred McAlpine Slate’s former operations director, and Paul Harvey, its former sales director, were charged with fraudulent trading in relation to the scam following a joint investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and North Wales Police.

All three are on conditional bail and are due to appear before Caernforn Magistrates Court on November 12.

Alfred McAlpine’s shares plummeted by a fifth in February 2007 after it reported that internal auditors had uncovered “a systematic misrepresentation of production volumes and sales for a number of years” at the subsidiary.

Alfred McAlpine Slate was sold to Lagan, a Northern Ireland-based construction group, for £31 million in December 2007.

Shortly afterwards, Alfred McAlpine agreed a £572 million takeover offer from Carillion, the UK infrastructure and business services group.

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