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The trial reported on the website on 25 January ended on 16 April, with convictions for the four accused. The court found Jacques Poujol, the former director of the meat processing company Spanghero in southwestern France, guilty and sentenced him to two years in jail and confiscated €100,000 seized at Poujol's home. Poujol will serve six months in jail and be on probation for a further 18 months. Moreover, he is prohibited from working in the meat industry for two years. Spanghero Manager, Patrice Monguillon was given a one-year suspended sentence. The two were also found guilty of tampering with the evidence.

Dutch middleman Johannes Fasen, who orchestrated the mislabelling of some 500 tonnes of meat, which in 2012-13 was sold to the ready meal manufacturer Comigel in Metz, France, was given a two-year sentence and his partner, Hendricus Windmeijer, received a one-year suspended sentence. Both men were previously convicted of similar crimes in the Netherlands in 2012.

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This week, four people have gone on trial in France to answer allegations they were knowingly involved in the fraud of supplying horsemeat, which subsequently went in to burgers and other meat products in 2013. During the investigation of the supply of horsemeat, it traced the source of the meat back to French supplier Spanghero and specifically a production facility in the Aude. The investigation also revealed a complex supply chain with Spanghero buying the meat from abattoirs in Romania and other countries – via a trading firm (Draap) operating in the Netherlands, but owned by firms in Cyprus and the Virgin Islands ("Draap" is "paard" backwards and Dutch for "horse"). The French prosecution claims that Spanghero knew it was buying horsemeat and deliberately changed the labelling on the shipment to hide its identity.

The French authorities claim that Spanghero sold more than 538 tonnes of mislabelled horsemeat to Tavola, a ready-meal producer in the Comigel group, and made around €500,000 from the fraud. On trial are former Spanghero director Jacques Poujol and ex-plant director Patrice Monguillon, plus Dutch meat traders Hendricus Windmeijer and Johannes Fasen. They have been charged with conspiracy to defraud and could face up to 10 years in prison plus fines of up to €1m. Fasen has previously been convicted of fraud in other countries in relation to the supply of horsemeat.

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