The Serious Fraud Office has filed 18 charges of false accounting against a former wine industry executive, alleging he overstated the value of wine inventory to secure funding.
Richard Foddy, a former executive and director of Sacred Hill Vineyards, appeared in Hastings District Court on Tuesday. Six of the charges carry an alternative charge of obtaining by deception.
The SFO alleges Foddy artificially increased the value of Sacred Hill Vineyards’ wine inventory in quarterly stock valuation spreadsheets and compliance certificates provided to lender Westpac. The alleged offending is said to have occurred during the financial years ending June 2017 through to June 2019.
According to the SFO, the alleged overstatements were used in documents provided to Westpac as part of the company’s funding arrangements.
Sacred Hill Vineyards and Sacred Hill Marlborough Vineyards went into receivership in May 2021. The case was referred to the SFO by receiver BDO Auckland.
