A timeline of Diamond Foods' accounting woes

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Diamond Foods Inc, maker of Emerald nuts and Pop Secret popcorn, said on Wednesday it was changing its top management after an internal audit found it needed to restate results due to improper accounting for payments to walnut growers.

The following are key events in the accounting scandal that has plagued its planned purchase of Pringles from Procter & Gamble Co and hammered its shares:

April 5, 2011 - Diamond announces plans to buy Pringles from Procter & Gamble for $1.5 billion in stock.

Aug. 3, 2011 - Diamond receives final anti-trust clearance on its proposed acquisition of Pringles.

Sept. 27, 2011 -- The Wall Street Journal raises questions about the timing and accounting of Diamond's payments to walnut growers.

Nov. 1, 2011 - Diamond says it is delaying the closing of its Pringles deal to the first half of 2012 from December 2011 to allow the company time to complete an investigation into its accounting for certain crop payments to walnut growers.

Nov. 17, 2011 - Diamond announces death of board member Joseph Silveira. The cause of his death is later reported as a suicide. Silveira had recused himself from the probe since the firm he was president of manages walnut-growing properties.

Dec. 12, 2011 - Diamond says it will delay filing its quarterly report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission due to an audit committee probe, centered on a certain "momentum payment" made to walnut growers on Sept. 2, just days after Diamond's final payment for the 2010 crop.

Dec. 15, 2011 - Diamond says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a probe into its accounting of payments to walnut growers, raising concerns that its deal to buy Pringles would be further delayed.

Jan. 12, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal reports that federal prosecutors have launched a criminal inquiry into Diamond's payments to walnut growers.

Feb. 8, 2012 - Diamond changes its top management after its audit committee found that the company would need to restate its results for fiscal 2010 and 2011 due to improper accounting for payments to walnut growers.

The audit committee discovered that a payment of about $20 million to walnut growers in August 2010 and another amount of about $60 million in September 2011 were not booked in the correct periods.

The company put Michael Mendes, its chairman, president and chief executive, and Steven Neil, its chief financial officer, on administrative leave. It named director Rick Wolford as acting CEO and made Michael Murphy of Alix Partners acting finance chief.