* David Jones charged at Leeds Magistrates Court
* Case to go to Crown Court
* Jones chaired JJB Sports Jan. 2009 to Jan. 2010
* Jones is former boss of clothing retailer Next
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - David Jones, one of Britain'sbest-known retail bosses, has been charged with forgery andmaking misleading statements to the stock market when he ran thenow collapsed JJB Sports business, the Serious Fraud Officesaid.
Jones, 70, was executive chairman of JJB Sports betweenJanuary 2009 and January 2010. The firm went into administrationin October last year.
In a statement on Friday the SFO said Jones was charged atLeeds Magistrates Court, northern England, with two offences ofmaking a misleading statement and one offence "of using a falseinstrument."
The SFO said Stuart Jones, the 38-year-old son of DavidJones who was JJB's head of marketing in 2009, was charged withone offence of "aiding and abetting David Jones's use of a falseinstrument."
Both men were released on unconditional bail and proceedingswere transferred to the Crown Court for April 19.
Jones is also a former chief executive of Next,Britain's second largest clothing retailer.
He became chairman of JJB in January 2009 and instigated arescue plan for the struggling firm.
But he stepped down a year later to continue hislong-running battle against Parkinson's Disease. He has sufferedfrom the debilitating neurodegenerative disease since 1982.
The SFO said Friday's charges follow the discovery ofmaterial during enquiries related to criminal proceedingsagainst Christopher Ronnie, a former chief executive of JJB.
Ronnie and former JJB supplier David Ball are scheduled togo to trial at Southwark Crown Court on Sept. 9 on chargesrelating to a 1 million pounds ($1.57 million) fraud.
Next (NXT)
