Sainsbury's buyer accepts £5m Corrupt Payments From Supplier

Wednesday 2nd May, 2012

A Sainsbury’s potato buyer accepted £5 million in corrupt payments from a key supplier, staying at Claridge’s and taking luxury holidays in return for a lucrative contract. The buyer was lavished with "excessive gifts and hospitality" by directors of Greenvale, which supplies almost half of the supermarket giant’s potatoes, a court has heard.

A peculiar feature of the corruption was that it was self-funding. Greenvale were not paying for it, Sainsbury's were paying for the corruption of their own buyer and this was achieved by overcharging Sainsbury's. Read more.