Mr James Zimmerman, former chairman and chief executive of Federated Department Stores, was indicted for perjury yesterday by New York Attorney General Mr Eliot Spitzer in a case involving Waterford Wedgwood.

The former head of Federated pleaded not guilty to the charges, Mr Zimmerman's attorney, Mr Thomas Fitzpatrick, said in a statement.

The perjury charge was related to testimony given during an antitrust investigation, Mr Spitzer's office said in a statement.

Federated, the parent of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, was charged in the antitrust case - along with May Department Stores and tableware manufacturers Waterford Wedgwood USA and Lenox - of conspiring to block Bed Bath & Beyond from selling Lenox and Waterford brand tableware.

During the investigation, Mr Zimmerman, who retired in January 2004, repeatedly told an assistant attorney general that he never talked about Bed Bath & Beyond with anyone from Waterford, Mr Spitzer's office said. The indictment claims that these were false statements.

Federated, May Department Stores, Lenox and Waterford Wedgwood USA paid $2.9 million (€2.19 million) in penalties to settle that case in August 2004. Waterford Wedgwood paid $500,00 for its part in the affair.

"Jim Zimmerman has been indicted for failing to recall a portion of a single, brief telephone conversation that occurred almost three years before his testimony," Mr Thomas Fitzpatrick, Zimmerman's lawyer, said in a statement.

"It's hard to believe that he would be foolish enough to do something like this, if it is true," said Mr Kurt Barnard, head of consultants Retail Forecasting Group. - (Reuters)