US tomato-processing firm accused of cheating customers
11/12/2008 15:27
US federal authorities yesterday accused a Californian tomato-processing
firm of conspiring to fix prices and mislabel food of lower quality than
advertised, San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The accusation was targeted at
SK Foods of Lemoore of Kings County of California, a main supplier of tomato
products which produces about 15 percent of the bulk tomato paste in the US
market.
Though denying the products allegedly mislabeled were dangerous,
Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office in Sacramento,
capital of California, said, "people weren't getting what they paid for. They
paid a higher price for a higher-quality food, and they didn't get
that."
Federal authorities began to investigate the alleged corruption in
California's huge tomato-processing industry in April. But it is the first time
that the authorities said consumers had been affected.
Prosecutors have not
filed charges against the SK Foods or any of its officials, but hinted that
there might be further actions against the company.
Prosecutors announced
that they had reached a plea deal with a former sales broker for SK Foods, who
has been facing racketeering, money laundering and antitrust charges.
The
broker, 61-year-old Randall Rahal, will plead guilty next week. Under the terms
of the plea deal, he will also forfeit US$600,000 and cooperate with the
investigation into tomato processors.
Prosecutors said Rahal had acted "with
the knowledge and consent of other SK Foods leaders and employees."
"There
are co-conspirators," Horwood said. "They haven't been charged yet."
However,
SK Foods' lawyer Brian Maschler said the company had done nothing wrong.
He
said the company had cut ties with Rahal after learning the government's
allegations against him in April, when investigators raided several locations
including the home of company co-owner and chief executive Scott
Salyer.
Xinhua
|
