Gloriavale-owned Forest Gold Honey, its director, two employees and an external agent were accused of falsifying two export-health certificates for more than 9000kg of honey valued at almost $200,000 that was exported to Vietnam in 2018 and 2019.
No New Zealand honey producer is allowed to export to Vietnam under the Ministry for Primary Industries’ market-access requirements.
The charges followed a raid by the Ministry of Primary Industries at Gloriavale in 2019.
The case has been inching through the courts since then with various suppressions, which have lapsed.
The last of two people involved, Maranatha Stedfast, a senior leader at Gloriavale, and Jacqualine Elizabeth Brown, an independent honey agent, this week pleaded guilty to breaches under the Animal Products Act, avoiding a trial.
Judge Raoul Neave said the offending was premeditated, financially motivated and had damaged the country’s international reputation.
Previously, charges against Forest Gold Honey and its director Mark Christian were dropped after the honey company was put into voluntary liquidation.
In May, quality control manager Christopher Courage was sentenced to six months’ community detention on two charges of falsifying a certificate for the honey.
Judge Neave on Thursday agreed with the Crown that Stedfast was most culpable in the offending.
Stedfast’s lawyer Marcus Zintl argued there was a degree of ignorance on Stedfast’s part.
However, the judge said Stedfast was "not an idiot".
He did accept there was an element of "the blind leading the blind" through the early stages of the exporting. "But that position did not continue through the whole enterprise."
Judge Neave agreed with the Crown’s submissions that Stedfast was "at the top of the food chain".
He had attempted to shirk responsibility to Brown, who was contracted as the overseas external honey distributions agent for Forest Gold Honey.
Judge Neave said Brown was not there as quality control — "She’s there to sell the stuff."
Stedfast, however, was a senior officer of the company and the false documents were essentially prepared under his direction.
Ultimately, the company had the main responsibility but the company was in liquidation and not before the court, the judge said.
The Crown said no other exporters were going to lengths to make forged documents.
Judge Neave said the fraud undermined this country’s reputation and the confidence that international customers would have with buying New Zealand products.
Stedfast pleaded guilty on two representative charges, one in relation to an exporter’s breach of duty under the Animal Products Act and the other of making a false document.
Mr Zintl said it had been a "significant fall from grace" for Stedfast.
Being charged and convicted had consequences for him inside the Gloriavale community, as he would have to resign from several companies and the school board.
Judge Neave acknowledged Stedfast had no previous convictions and was otherwise of good character.
As he was not able to pay a fine, Stedfast was convicted and discharged on the breach, and
sentenced to 150 hours of community work.
Brown was "by a narrow margin" discharged without conviction.
Costs were imposed on each charge to a total of $25,000. — Hokitika Guardian
