CEO sentenced for dishonesty and corruption

CEO sentenced for dishonesty and corruption

Peter John Scutts was sentenced in the Auckland High Court today to eight months on home detention.

An investigation of the former New Zealand Wine Company Limited (NZWC) CEO by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) saw Mr Scutts charged with 16 Crimes Act charges of dishonestly using a document and one Secret Commissions Act charge of corruptly accepting a reward for advising NZWC to enter into a contract.

Mr Scutts was found guilty of the charges in May 2015.

On advice from Mr Scutts, NZWC had entered into a contract to supply wine to an Australian based wine wholesaler. Mr Scutts agreed to receive a commission from the Australian wholesaler for advising NZWC to enter into the supply contract. The NZWC Board had no knowledge of this commission arrangement. Mr Scutts received commissions totalling approximately NZ$64,000, the majority of which was received while he was CEO of NZWC.

SFO Director, Julie Read said, “Protecting New Zealand’s reputation as a safe place to invest and do business is why the SFO targets both public and private sector corruption even at modest levels. Businesses are also entitled to expect that their employees will act in the best interest of their employers. Cases such as this one reinforce that message.”

ENDS

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