UK men sentenced in food theft, fraud case

Three men have been sentenced in the UK in connection with the theft of chicken meat worth almost £320,000 (around $400,000) that was placed in the supply chain using forged dispatch notes.

Rana Dhaia from Wolverhampton was found guilty of paying poultry factory workers for deliveries of chicken stolen from 2Sisters Food Group in Anglesey, Wales, to his business Townsend Poultry. He had denied the charge and was sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of four years and three months.

Factory workers Darren Williams and Elliott Smith, both from Anglesey, pleaded guilty to theft and received two-year suspended prison sentences along with 300 and 250 hours of unpaid work, respectively.

An investigation confirmed there had been 84 deliveries of stolen chicken, for which the records were destroyed. In a statement, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) – whose National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) participated in the investigation – said the theft and diversion of the chicken raised “traceability issues”, adding: “It’s very important that poultry can be traced through the food system to help ensure that food is safe to eat.”

Image: Kreingkrai Luangchaipreeda from Pixabay