A Périgord wholesaler sentenced by the Bergerac court
The man was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence for fraudulently labeling fruit from abroad as "French origin."
A Dordogne wholesaler, prosecuted for fraudulently labeling foreign-produced fruit as "French origin," has been sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a €50,000 fine, the French Anti-Fraud Directorate announced Tuesday. The Bergerac Criminal Court convicted the manager of the company Fruits rouges du Périgord of "deception," after he was found guilty on Monday of "Frenchifying" 412 tons of foreign fruit between 2020 and 2021. The public prosecutor had requested a one-year suspended prison sentence and a €150,000 fine. The fraud was revealed in 2022 in a report on the program "Zone interdite," broadcast on M6.
The trading company resold raspberries, blueberries, redcurrants, blackberries, blackcurrants, chestnuts, and kiwis under the "French origin" label, imported mainly from Morocco, Portugal, and the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent from Guatemala. These products were then resold to large and medium-sized retailers throughout France under a false origin. The company Fruits rouges du Périgord was liquidated by decision of the commercial court in August 2023.
Dordogne Libre
