Legal proceedings CEO glues false labels to meat packages – Ostrobothnian company sells foreign meat to shops and restaurants instead of Finnish

South Ostrobothnia For years, the company sold foreign meat domestically to large shops and restaurants all over Finland. Buyers were also misled about the animal species of the meat.

The District Court of Southern Ostrobothnia sentenced the company’s CEO and employee to probation on Tuesday.

According to the judgment, a company called Joupin Meklari sold 4,300 kilos of foreign venison and 2,700 kilos of mutton domestically in 2017–2020. The company’s CEO manufactured and affixed labels to the meat packages, according to which they contained Finnish meat.

In addition, the company sold 4,900 kilograms of venison as deer, reindeer or venison.

Meat was traded with false data to a total of 68 different operators. Numerous K-Citymarkets and K-Supermarkets, among others, were involved in the lawsuit.

In the Helsinki metropolitan area, meat was sold to K-Citymarkets Sello, Iso Omena and Jumbo, as well as K-Supermarket Mustapekka and Kasarmi.

In grocery stores, incorrect information on origin and animal species ended up in the product information on display, and in restaurants on menus.

About crimes the accused men admitted all charges and claims for damages at trial.

The CEO was sentenced to seven months’ suspended imprisonment for, among other things, aggravated fraud, a marketing offense, a health offense and a food offense.

In addition, the CEO received a three-year ban on doing business. He is already retired.

The district court sentenced the employee to three months’ probation. Among other things, he committed guilty of gross fraud.

The company will have to pay the state 55,000 euros in criminal benefits.

The CEO and the company will lose to the state as a means of crime the pump cart, the vacuum machine, the label device, the meat knives, the knife sharpener, the meat grinders, the weighing scales and other similar tools.