And in other Agribusiness News
From the
Houston Chronicle:
Kraft, Frito-Lay buyers agree to bribery pleas
Buyers for Kraft Foods Inc. and Frito-Lay Inc. are pleading guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes as part of a scheme that helped drive up food prices nationwide, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Robert Watson of White Plains, N.Y., entered his plea in a Sacramento federal court Tuesday to accepting $158,000 from a California-based tomato processor. Watson, 59, was a Kraft senior purchasing manager.
The U.S. Attorney's office said James Wahl Jr., 58, a former Frito-Lay purchaser from Dallas, also has agreed to plead guilty to accepting about $160,000.
The charges say they each helped Randall Lee Rahal, a sales broker and director at SK Foods of Lemoore, charge their companies inflated prices. SK Foods grows and processes products like tomato paste and diced tomatoes, 95 percent of which are processed in California.
Attorneys for both Watson and Wahl did not immediately return telephone messages Tuesday.
Throw away the key. Why do people do these things that only hurt other people when they should know that they will be found out and prosecuted. It would take an idiot to think that they could get away with something like this -- corporate accountants have a good sense of what is happening and if something piques their interest, they will drill down until they find out what is happening. It may take a year or two but it will come to light.
Posted by DaveH at January 28, 2009 10:18 AM