Another former SK Foods executive has been charged in Sacramento federal court, the latest expansion of a sprawling case of fraud, bribery and price fixing in the tomato-processing industry.
In court papers filed Wednesday, Alan Huey, a former senior vice president at the company, admitted to falsifying documents in order to sell bulk tomato paste that was older, moldier or more diluted than SK Foods claimed, violating federal quality and labeling standards.
Huey has agreed to plead guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and to cooperate in the government's investigation in exchange for a potentially reduced sentence, according to court documents.
The government first accused SK Foods of bribery in an August 2008 lawsuit. Since then, the case has expanded to include employees of Kraft, Frito-Lay and other food firms.
Including Huey, eight people have now been charged in connection with the case. Jeffrey Beasley, a former SK Foods vice president, pleaded guilty Aug. 25 to bribing buyers at firms that purchased the company's products. Earlier in August, a former senior purchasing manager for Kraft Foods Inc. was sentenced to two years and three months in prison and ordered to pay restitution to Kraft of $1.858 million for accepting SK's bribes.
Huey is the highest-ranking former SK Foods employee yet charged.
According to the court documents and U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Lauren Horwood, Huey was acting under express orders from a more senior executive at the company, who so far has not been charged and whose name has not been released.
Horwood declined to comment on whether that higher-level executive is the next target of the ongoing investigation.
SK Foods LP, with two Central Valley plants including one in Lemoore, was a grower, processor and distributor of tomato and other food products for sale to manufacturers, distributors, marketers and retail outlets. In June the Monterey-based company, which was part of agribusiness tycoon Scott Salyer's SK Foods Group, was sold out of bankruptcy for $39 million to Olam International of Singapore.
California farmers harvested about 27 billion pounds of processing tomatoes this year. The state fills nearly all U.S. demand and accounts for about 30% of the world supply. Several Sacramento Valley and Delta counties are major growing and processing areas.
Most of the state's tomatoes are made into paste, which food processors use to make everything from soup to pizza sauce.
A few rules are needed to help foster a feeling of community. We encourage a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect, but any post that violates someone's right to use and enjoy fresnobee.com is prohibited. Before you post, please read the terms of use and obey these simple guidelines.
Here are the ground rules:
Contents of this site are © Copyright The Fresno Bee. All rights reserved.
E-Mail
Print
@Nyx.CommentBody@