[size=75:3advk309]Regal retail 23 March 2010
Fraud uncovered large eggs sold as organic in the UK
Since June 2005, for a period of 18 months in supermarkets and shops in the UK have sold over 100 million organic eggs are actually laid by hens kept in battery cages, reported The Times.
The amount of abuse became clear during the meeting of the Royal Court in Worcester. Former executive director of the company Heart of England Eggs Keith Owen was sentenced to three years imprisonment and a fine of three million British pounds after having made three confessions to false accounting.
In the courtroom it was clear that he had imported "
industrial"
eggs from France and Ireland and it is envisioned as a British organic products. The company has gained a lot of revenue back to users who believed that buy top-quality eggs, the court said.
Judge Owen ordered to pay 250 thousand pounds now, and the remaining money must be paid within 12 months. Otherwise, the former director would have to serve six and a half years in prison. Furthermore it is forbidden to serve a company director for seven years.
Owen's lawyer pleaded for the relief of the sentence and said in court that suggests that others in the industry were involved in the fraud. Not all of which my client has supplied eggs have tried to ensure the origin of supplies, he said.
This is the biggest case of fraud with food, gave the sum of the Ministry of Environment, Food and selkite areas and damages were estimated at around one million British pounds.
Richard Jones, Head of dairying, eggs and feathers at the Ministry explained that the majority of eggs were sold legally, but it is important to work with manufacturers to ensure that the criminal-minded individuals will receive their due reward.
Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:26 pm
