Three men convicted of fraud and acquiring criminal property relating to poultry, amounting to a loss of nearly £320,000, have been sentenced to prison.
Rana Dhaia, owner of Townsend Poultry in Wolverhampton, together with Darren Williams and Elliot Smith, both managers employed by the 2 Sisters Food Group in North Wales, conspired together to commit fraud.
During an audit at the 2 Sisters Food Group, it came to light that Williams and Smith were supplying Townsend Poultry with chicken.
Townsend Poultry was not a customer of 2 Sisters Food Group and there were no records of any deliveries.
Enquiries made with local hauliers used by the group confirmed there had been 84 deliveries to Townsend Poultry, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Williams and Smith had destroyed the records of those deliveries, according to an investigation by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Rana Dhaia was sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of four years and three months.
Darren Williams was sentenced to two years' imprisonment suspended for two years with a requirement to undertake 300 hours unpaid work.
And Elliot Smith was handed a two years' imprisonment suspended for two years with 250 hours of unpaid work.
Emmalyne Downing, Crown Advocate, said the three defendants took advantage of their position within the companies to defraud 2 Sisters Food Group.
"Fraud cases can be complex; the CPS worked closely with the Economic Crime Unit at North Wales Police and the Food Standards Agency in Wales to build a strong case against the defendants.
"The evidence presented resulted in all three being convicted," she said.
Detective Constable David Hall of the North Wales Police added: “We welcome today’s outcome which has seen the conviction of Williams, Smith and Dhaia following work with partners from the Food Standard Agency.
“The offences that took place not only cost the 2 Sisters Food group thousands of pounds, but also could have had far-reaching implications due to traceability issues if they had not been caught."
