Wellington, Aug 16 NZPA - A former broker for the American owner of New Zealand's biggest tomato processing operation, SK Foods, is under investigation for allegedly offering bribes to sell tomato-based products to buyers for food giants, including Kraft, Frito-Lay and Safeway, according to court documents.

An FBI agent said in an affidavit filed in a United States Court that SK Foods chief executive officer Scott Salyer encouraged New Jersey-based broker Randall Rahal to offer bribes to buyers over a four-year period, the Monterey Herald reported.

SK Foods bought a 55 percent stake in Gisborne-based processor Cedenco in May 2001, purchasing the shares of Brierley Investments and Mangatu Investments for $NZ1.52 a share, and in 2003, acquired a 90 percent stake and forced a compulsory purchase of the rest of the shares at $2.30 each.

Today the bribery allegations were outlined in a 36-page sworn statement filed by FBI Special Agent Paul Artley in US District Court in Sacramento in support of the US government's seizure of $US600,000 ($NZ870,953.69) from two of Rahal's bank accounts.

Money used to bribe food buyers allegedly flowed through the accounts, Artley said.

The case is being investigated by the FBI, and the Internal Revenue Service spokeswoman Arlette Lee said, "Instead of having to bid for and getting people to buy your product from you, you allegedly pay bribes to guarantee the other company will purchase the product from SK Foods."

SK Foods declined comment beyond a prepared statement that said the company "continues to cooperate fully in the government's investigation".

While the company's corporate headquarters are in Monterey, California it is part of the SK Foods Group which owns Salyer American Fresh Foods, SK Frozen Foods and Cedenco Foods Ltd. of New Zealand, with two processing plants in this country and Australia.

A former SK Foods employee, identified as a witness in the affidavit, told investigators that SK Foods paid bribes to increase its market share, and that Salyer was present during conversations in which Rahal talked about bribes he paid through his company, Intramark, to protect SK Foods from fallout if Rahal got caught.

Payouts from Intramark to several individuals included $US157,000 to a Kraft employee and $US81,000 to an employee of Frito-Lay, according to Artley's affidavit.

FBI agents intercepted one conversation with an SK Foods employee, identified as "MP", in which Rahal talked about a conversation he had with a purchaser about the quality of the product, saying "We pack garbage for them anyway, and they always take it, but we've hit new lows."

MP said: "You know (Rahal), we don't send out a COA that's true."

The COA, or certificate of analysis, "lists quality attributes which the company is certifying were tested and analysed" to ensure the product meets customer specifications and Government standards.

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