NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The FBI is investigating retailer Kmart Corp., the agency confirmed Thursday, a day after the bankrupt retail chain reported a record loss of $2.42 billion for its latest fiscal year.

"The FBI is looking at the situation at Kmart. We have to determine if there is a criminal violation or violations for prosecution at a later time," Special Agent Dawn Clenney of the Detroit FBI office told CNN/Money Thursday. She said the investigation will include "document review, interviews, what-have-you."

Clenney declined to discuss details or the nature of the investigation. "I don't want to get into right now, exactly what we're looking at. It would be inappropriate," she said.

"We don't usually acknowledge that we're looking at something, but in certain cases we have to do that. It's [Kmart] an important case with national implications," Clenney added.

Kmart (KM: down $0.06 to $1.11, Research, Estimates) spokesman Jack Ferry declined to confirm the FBI's investigation Thursday, but said the company is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan in an investigation that began earlier this year. But he declined to discuss details.

"There's really nothing I can say about that except to confirm it's going on." Ferry said. "We're fully cooperating."

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office also confirmed the investigation, but would not discuss the case.

Troy, Mich.-based Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Jan. 22, succumbing to stiff competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT: up $1.87 to $58.64, Research, Estimates) and Target Corp. (TGT: up $1.38 to $43.72, Research, Estimates), following a disappointing holiday season.

Kmart launched a probe of the way the company accounts for vendor credits in January and earlier this month said it may need to restate results. On Wednesday, the company posted a $2.42 billion loss for the year ended Jan. 30, after it restated its results for the fiscal first, second and third quarters.

The company said it experienced a $150 million decrease in vendor allowances, mainly because its suppliers lost confidence in the company when bankruptcy became imminent.

Kmart mainly cited the poor performance of its BlueLight Always program and higher markdowns of seasonal apparel because of unseasonably warm weather for much of its loss for the full year.

The retailer also said this month it was investigating the way the company was run under former CEO Chuck Conaway.