The last defendant in the multimillion-dollar Powdergate fraud inquiry has admitted his involvement in the scandal.
Sean Robert Miller, one of seven men charged over their part in the illegal export of millions of dollars of dairy products between 1997 and 2001, has pleaded guilty to six charges,after having denied his involvement in the scam until just last week.
With his trial due to have begun yesterday, he changed his plea to guilty last Thursday after seeking a sentence indication in the Auckland District Court.
The six charges under the Customs Act relate to being an accessory to presenting false documents, which were used to send milk products overseas when the monopoly on exports was held by the New Zealand Dairy Board, which merged with Kiwi Co-operative Dairies and the New Zealand Dairy Group to become Fonterra in 2001.
After the Serious Fraud Office downgraded the original charges of conspiracy to defraud to producing false customs documents, Miller's co-accused - Paul Marra, Malcolm McCowan, Terence Walter, William Cottee, Stephen Wackrow, and William Winchester - admitted the charges in May 2006, and were fined $58,500 in total.
Miller, a former Kiwi executive, lost an application for charges against him to be discharged in February, and a 10-day trial was scheduled for May. Miller will now be sentenced this Thursday at Auckland District Court.
