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26
Jan
Four accused of selling Norwegian salmon as Scottish at collapsed smokehouse
Four people have been accused of misrepresenting the origin of smoked salmon supplied by the former Bleiker’s Smokehouse.
Bleiker's Smoke House Ltd, founded in 1993 and previously based at Glasshouses Mill in Nidderdale, fell into administration in April 2022.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced it had launched an investigation into the alleged fraud just days later in May.
According to the FSA, the four unidentified defendants have now been charged with conspiring to commit fraud by false representation.
It is alleged they marketed salmon products supplied by Bleiker’s Smoke House Ltd as Scottish salmon, when the products instead “consisted in full or part of Norwegian salmon”.
Neil Castle, deputy head of the FSA's national crime unit, said the charges followed a "lengthy and complex investigation into food fraud".
Andrew Cant, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, added:
The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised the prosecution of four individuals for an offence of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
These offences relate to the mis-selling of Scottish salmon when allegedly they contained Norwegian Salmon between 20th August 2021 and 30th March 2022.
Our prosecutors have worked closely with officers of the Food Standards Agency’s national food crime unit who have carried out the investigation.
The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against these defendants are active and that they have a right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
The defendants appeared at York Magistrates Court on January 8, when the case was transferred to Teesside Crown Court.
They are due to appear there on February 6.
The company was founded by the Bleiker family from Burton Leonard, who stepped down as directors in 2006.
The smokehouse had moved in recent years to a business park at Leeming Bar, employing 86 members of staff and supplying supermarkets across the UK.
According to Companies House, Bleiker's Smoke House Ltd was dissolved on June 21 last year.
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