Kiwifruit giant Zespri has been fingered in a scandal which has seen its Chinese agent jailed for avoiding paying duties.
The Sunday Star-Times suggests senior members of the company knew or suspected the agent's activities were illegal but still took part.
Zespri's role in the scam saw it create two invoices – one at the correct price for its fruit, the other for a lower amount used by the importer to save millions of dollars in import duties.
Zespri Management Consulting Company, a China-based subsidiary wholly owned by Zespri, was fined $960,000 and ordered to pay reparations for "illegal gains" in March after being found guilty in a Shanghai court of smuggling and evading customs duties.
At the time, Zespri said the charges related to under-declaration of customs duties by Zespri's former independent importers between 2008 and 2010.
The company says it has worked with new import partners for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
TheSunday Star-Times claims the fraud may have made the company as much as $10 million in illegal money.
3 News
source: newshub archive
