London: A businessman was convicted of fraud in a London court on Wednesday after an investigation found he was mixing horsemeat with beef he was distributing to UK supermarkets to increase his profits.
Andronicos Sideras, owner of Dinos and Sons Ltd., mixed orders of beef with cheaper horsemeat over a 10-month period in 2012. He repackaged the meat and attached false labels that linked it to a Polish company.
The north London businessman conspired with suppliers, Ulrich Nielsen and Alex Ostler-Beech of Flexi Foods, to repackage the meat. Nielsen and Ostler-Beech have already been found guilty of the same charge.
“These men, motivated by greed, knowingly sold horsemeat to manufacturers so they could increase their profits,” Nina Montalbano, a lawyer at the CPS Specialist Fraud Division said. “All three defendants knew full well this meat would enter the food chain through a number of leading supermarkets.”
The crime was discovered after environmental health authorities inspected a manufacturer in Newry, Northern Ireland. Out of 12 packages of beef tested, two contained horsemeat. Three microchips from horses were discovered in the factory.
In total, 83,000 kilos of meat was contaminated, with about 30,000 kilos of the total found to be horse.
A person who answered the phone at Dinos declined to comment on the case.
