Body found in river after $2.3m fraud

The death of Jason Dark - whose body was found in the Waikato River in December 2002 - brought to an end two years of deception and fraud involving more than $2 million, lawyers for PGG Wrightson told the Auckland High Court yesterday.

Nearly three years after the alleged perpetrator's death, PGG Wrightson is suing two former customers to get the money back.

Kit Toogood, QC told the court in his opening summary that Pukekohe market gardeners - family-owned companies Wai Shing and Hira Bhana - were the principal beneficiaries of fraud committed by Dark.

Dark had been the manager of the Pukekohe branch of Fruitfed Supplies - then a division of Williams & Kettle, which has since become part of PGG Wrightson.

Dark's fraud had resulted in almost no direct benefit to himself, yet "his dishonesty could not be seriously disputed", Toogood said.

It is alleged that between 2000 and 2002, Dark passed on $1.09 million in cost savings and free goods to Wai Shing and $1.22 million to Hira Bhana.

Both are large market gardens which have been in business for more than 40 years.

Both deny they owe any money to PGG Wrightson.

After he was promoted to branch manager in early 2000, Dark was solely responsible for sales to Wai Shing and Hira Bhana.

PGG Wrightson alleges there were three categories of transaction: those processed on the defendants' accounts but which remain unpaid, those where goods were supplied at prices well below cost and those where product was supplied to Wai Shing at no cost.

In mid to late 2002, Dark was investigated by Fruitfed.

He was suspended on November 22, 2002, and failed to attend a disciplinary meeting on December 2.

At that point, the company decided to dismiss him but could not tell him of this as he had disappeared.

His body was found the next day in the Waikato River, near a property owned by Wai Shing.

A coroner determined that the cause of death was drowning.

In Dark's absence, Toogood said, it was not possible to explain why he offered the prices he did and why he did not process the manual invoices through the computer system.

PGG Wrightson alleged the defendants were aware of the incorrect invoicing and charging but did not seriously attempt to address the situation.

"It is Fruitfed's submission that no reasonable person in Wai Shing or Hira Bhana's position, acting honestly, would have put up with the problems they claim to have been experiencing with their accounts," Toogood said.

The defendants had only done enough to be able to claim, if challenged, that they had complained about the debit balances in their accounts.

"The plaintiffs' case is that they did not complain to anyone other than Mr Dark, because they knew that the deals they were getting were more competitive, and that they were unauthorised."

PGG Wrightson plans to call nine witnesses. The defence will then make its case. The case continues.