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| Horsemeat scandal: head of Irish firm questioned by MPs | Horsemeat scandal: head of Irish firm questioned by MPs |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| The head of the Irish-based beef processing giant at the heart of the horsemeat scandal was questioned by MPs on Tuesday over his chairman's past connection to fraud and faking paperwork. | The head of the Irish-based beef processing giant at the heart of the horsemeat scandal was questioned by MPs on Tuesday over his chairman's past connection to fraud and faking paperwork. |
| The ABP Food Group chief executive Paul Finnerty was summoned before the environment, food and rural affairs select committee to answer questions about how the beefburgers it supplied Tesco could have contained 29% horse DNA. | The ABP Food Group chief executive Paul Finnerty was summoned before the environment, food and rural affairs select committee to answer questions about how the beefburgers it supplied Tesco could have contained 29% horse DNA. |
| Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, asked Finnerty why the committee should believe ABP now when his company's chairman, Larry Goodman, had run a predecessor company that "had been found to have faked records, cheated customs officers, had bogus meat stamps manufacturered and practised institutionalised tax evasion". | Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, asked Finnerty why the committee should believe ABP now when his company's chairman, Larry Goodman, had run a predecessor company that "had been found to have faked records, cheated customs officers, had bogus meat stamps manufacturered and practised institutionalised tax evasion". |
| Referring to the report of a 1994 public inquiry in Ireland, Gardiner said that Goodman had employed an "A team" to change official health marks and repack and relabel beef as something it was not. | Referring to the report of a 1994 public inquiry in Ireland, Gardiner said that Goodman had employed an "A team" to change official health marks and repack and relabel beef as something it was not. |
| Were the same people now engaged in these activities at another company named in the current horsemeat scandal, Freeza Foods, Gardiner asked Finnerty. | Were the same people now engaged in these activities at another company named in the current horsemeat scandal, Freeza Foods, Gardiner asked Finnerty. |
| Freeza Foods is the Northern Ireland cold store where substantial quantities of frozen meat that was 80% horse were discovered last month and quarantined by authorities. Two of its principal executives, Eamon Mackle and Jim Fairbairn, used to work for Goodman companies, and both were identified as key players in a fraud that took place between 1986 and 1987 and attempts to cover it up. Fairbairn was a senior executive with Goodman's international division and Mackle ran a boning hall under contract at a Goodman meat factory. | Freeza Foods is the Northern Ireland cold store where substantial quantities of frozen meat that was 80% horse were discovered last month and quarantined by authorities. Two of its principal executives, Eamon Mackle and Jim Fairbairn, used to work for Goodman companies, and both were identified as key players in a fraud that took place between 1986 and 1987 and attempts to cover it up. Fairbairn was a senior executive with Goodman's international division and Mackle ran a boning hall under contract at a Goodman meat factory. |
| The Irish inqury found the two men had been involved in a fiddle to make false claims for EC subsidies and cover up the cheat when customs officials discovered that the beef Anglo-Irish Beef Processors had packed was 15% trimmings and not the high-grade beef it should have been. | The Irish inqury found the two men had been involved in a fiddle to make false claims for EC subsidies and cover up the cheat when customs officials discovered that the beef Anglo-Irish Beef Processors had packed was 15% trimmings and not the high-grade beef it should have been. |
| Goodman also had a hidden group of companies through which he operated in the 1980s, the MP went on. Did they or a similar secret structure still exist, he asked. | Goodman also had a hidden group of companies through which he operated in the 1980s, the MP went on. Did they or a similar secret structure still exist, he asked. |
| The ABP boss admitted to MPs that there had been a breakdown in the company's internal controls but told the committee that it was isolated to its Silvercrest plant that supplied Tesco with the beefburgers. Managers had used meat that was bought from suppliers who were not on an approved list. He refused to name the supplier of the meat, but said it had come from Poland. "We do not trade in horsemeat," he said. ABP was itself the victim of a fraud, Finnerty added, and the managers at the plant had been asked to stand aside while the investigation was conducted. "We have disbanded the division and withdrawn 10m burgers," he added. | The ABP boss admitted to MPs that there had been a breakdown in the company's internal controls but told the committee that it was isolated to its Silvercrest plant that supplied Tesco with the beefburgers. Managers had used meat that was bought from suppliers who were not on an approved list. He refused to name the supplier of the meat, but said it had come from Poland. "We do not trade in horsemeat," he said. ABP was itself the victim of a fraud, Finnerty added, and the managers at the plant had been asked to stand aside while the investigation was conducted. "We have disbanded the division and withdrawn 10m burgers," he added. |
| When asked by the Guardian last month about its executives' connections to ABP, Newry-based Freeza Foods said in a statement, "There is no connection whatsoever between Freeza Meats, set up in 1988, and ABP." | When asked by the Guardian last month about its executives' connections to ABP, Newry-based Freeza Foods said in a statement, "There is no connection whatsoever between Freeza Meats, set up in 1988, and ABP." |
| Finnerty said the other incidents Gardiner referred to were over 25 years old. | Finnerty said the other incidents Gardiner referred to were over 25 years old. |
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