Sugar company Beneo Orafti fined €7 million for export fraud
by Alan Hope,
Summary
Tienen
sugar and sweetener manufacturer Beneo Orafti has been fined €7 million
by the court for taking subsidies to export to Russia when the product
ended up elsewhereProducts re-sold
Sugar refinery Beneo
Orafti, based in Tienen, Flemish Brabant, has been fined €7 million by
the federal government for export fraud. The company, a sister
enterprise of the Tienen refinery that produces most of Belgium’s sugar,
was also ordered to pay interest on the subsidies received.
Government investigators found that Beneo – which produces sugar derivatives from chicory roots (pictured)
for the food industry as well as a range of sweeteners – had on 193
occasions claimed export subsidies for sales of fructose syrup to
Kaliningrad.
Instead, the syrup was re-sold from Russia to Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Latvia – countries that did not attract subsidies for exporters.
The fraud, investigators found, took place from 2003 to 2006, bringing Beneo an estimated €3 million in subsidies. The company claimed it had no control over what happened to the product after it had arrived in Kaliningrad.
Both Beneo and Tiense Suiker are just two of the 40 subsidiaries of the German company Südzucker, which takes in about €450 million in agricultural subsidies a year. The government originally lost its case but appealed and won. The company may elect to appeal to the Cassation Court.
Photo: Beneo Orafti
Instead, the syrup was re-sold from Russia to Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Latvia – countries that did not attract subsidies for exporters.
The fraud, investigators found, took place from 2003 to 2006, bringing Beneo an estimated €3 million in subsidies. The company claimed it had no control over what happened to the product after it had arrived in Kaliningrad.
Both Beneo and Tiense Suiker are just two of the 40 subsidiaries of the German company Südzucker, which takes in about €450 million in agricultural subsidies a year. The government originally lost its case but appealed and won. The company may elect to appeal to the Cassation Court.
Photo: Beneo Orafti
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