Guilty pleas end fish fraud trial

Guilty pleas have been entered to more than a third of the 355 charges faced by Hawke’s Bay Seafoods and associated companies and directors.

The pleas to 122 of the charges came on December 22, the final day of the court year, and just part way through the huge trial which was into its seventh month.

The companies charged were Hawke’s Bay Seafoods, Ocean Enterprises and Esplanade No 3. The directors and managers were Antonino ‘‘Nino’’ Giovanni D’esposito, Giancarlo ‘‘Joe’’ Harold D’esposito and manager Marcus Giuseppe D’esposito, along with four skippers.

The charges, laid by the Ministry for Primary Industries, involved the false declaration of sales for bluenose, which had been exported to Australia.

The offending occurred between October 2012 and July 2014.

The trial, before Judge Bill Hastings, began in the Wellington District Court in May. It is believed to have been one of the nation’s longestrunning district court trials.

A sentencing date is yet to be determined.

In her opening, MPI prosecutor Stephanie Bishop said the under-reporting was deliberate and wide-reaching.

Bishop said it was orchestrated from the top by the companies’ directors and managers, down to the skippers of the boats.

The filed returns were false and motivated by the lack of annual catch entitlement of the companies and the prospect of gaining export market advantages by selling the fish at a lower rate than others, she said.

She said the skippers’ collusion was necessary and gained by cash payments and continued employment.

The company and directors were the subject of a large raid by the ministry in September 2014.

Police seized eight houses, five vehicles and $15,000 in cash, alleged to have been proceeds of a large-scale illegal fishing operation.

The raid involved 88 compliance officers, investigators and police officers, who were involved in entering offices and boarded boats connected with the company in Wellington, Tauranga, Gisborne, the Chatham Islands, Christchurch and Hawke’s Bay.

The D’esposito brothers run several companies that do everything from operating fishing vessels, to processing seafoods, through to exporting and importing, as well as selling their catch through wholesale and retail.

Hawke’s Bay Seafoods regularly leases a large parcel of quota from Ngati Kahungunu and in return ensures employment and industry based training for up to 80 members of the iwi.