MPI drops allegations of fraud against Gloriavale honey company after liquidation
A Gloriavale honey company and its director accused of forging documents to illegally export New Zealand honey to Vietnam have had all their charges dropped after the business went into liquidation.
West Coast honey producer Forest Gold Honey, owned by Christian Partners Nominee Ltd, went into voluntary liquidation on November 27, owing more than $1 million.
New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) filed charges for the alleged falsifying of export health certificates and breaching of exporter duties.
The company and four people were first charged and had their names suppressed in May 2021. Suppression has now lifted.
Two people pleaded guilty and one not guilty, and charges had now been withdrawn against the company and its director Mark Christian, the son of Gloriavale’s late founder Hopeful Christian.
“The charges have been withdrawn on a without prejudice basis, meaning they could be potentially revived if the company came out of liquidation, or unintended consequences arose,” Arbuckle said.
The company’s marketing and sales liaison, Maranatha Stedfast, pleaded guilty to one representative charge of forgery and one representative charge of breach of exporter duties. He will be sentenced in February.
Quality control manager Christopher Courage was sentenced to six months’ community detention in May after admitting creating two false export certificates for about 9424kg of honey that was exported to Vietnam.
Jacqui Brown – an external contractor to Forest Gold Honey as a sales and marketing agent – pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting the company to breach exporter duties. She faces a judge-alone trial in Greymouth in January.
At Courage’s sentencing at the Christchurch District Court in May, the court heard honey worth almost $200,000 was exported using false documents between October 2018 and March 2019.
No honey producer in New Zealand is allowed to export to Vietnam under MPI’s overseas market access requirements.
Judge Stephen O’Driscoll said the falsified certificates could have easily convinced the receiver that the New Zealand’s usual export controls had been complied with.
“New Zealand honey has a strong international reputation for providing a high quality product,” the judge said.
“Any behaviour or activity that is contrary to the rules and regulations … undermines New Zealand’s excellent international reputation, and it also undermines the confidence that international customers have with New Zealand products.”
Courage’s lawyer said his client was not aware of the significance of his actions at the time – if he had known, he would never have done it.
“He is very remorseful. He would do absolutely anything to take away what his actions had caused.”
According to the first liquidator’s report, Forest Gold Honey’s insolvency came after weaker than anticipated sales and challenges finding trained staff.
Earlier this year, the Employment Court found men who worked at Gloriavale’s businesses, including Forest Gold Honey, were employees and not volunteers as claimed by the community.
Three young male Gloriavale leavers who took the Employment Court case gave evidence of working long unpaid hours in the honey processing factory, once going 50 hours without sleep to fill a large order, and of a young teen losing the tips of three fingers making bee boxes.
The Unique Mānuka Factor Honey (UMF) Association later revoked a licence held by Forest Gold honey brands, saying the company’s actions put its “good will and reputation” at risk.