GREENCORE LEAKS €20M AFTER WATER FRAUD - An internal audit at the food company, Greencore, has uncovered fraud running to more than €20m over the past three years. The fraud was uncovered at the company's Scottish mineral water division, Campsie.
Greencore chief executive Patrick Coveney said there had been a 'deliberate concealment of costs' by an individual, leading to a mis-statement of the financial performance of the business. He said this had been uncovered by an internal audit in early June. This led to an investigation which would hit profits this year and would affect profits over the previous two years.
Mr Coveney said the business involved - which Greencore has owned since 2001 - had sales of roughly £40m with profits of £10m through the period involved.
The Greencore chief said the company was looking at why the fraud had gone undiscovered for so long, though it had been the subject of comprehensive internal and external audits during the period.
He said so far Greencore did not think the person in question was motivated by personal enrichment. Mr Coveney said the company was duty bound to explore all legal avenues to try to recover the profits it had lost, but he did not think Greencore would face any sanction from regulatory authorities.
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