Store buyer arrested over £3m

A buyer for supermarket giant Sainsbury's has been arrested over claims he took £3 million in backhanders from a Shropshire-based potato producer.

Police have searched both business and residential properties in Shropshire as part of the investigation, and officers have also arrested two men on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. The pair have been subsequently bailed.

Potato buyer John Maylam was questioned by City of London police after accusations that he received money from Greenvale, which has a state-of-the-art potato-packing plant near Market Drayton.

A member of Greenvale staff was also arrested and questioned.

Greenvale won the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2006 and is one of the country's leading potato suppliers. It supplies about half of Sainsbury's potatoes and packs potatoes for Tesco and Aldi.

It is one of the largest packers and growers of organic potatoes in the country and imports and exports ware and seed potatoes throughout the Mediterranean basin.

A City of London Police spokesman said: "City of London police executed and completed search warrants at two residential addresses in Cambridgeshire and Shropshire and two business premises in Shropshire on March 13.

"Two men were arrested on suspicion of corruption and money laundering and were subsequently bailed."

As well as the Shropshire plant, Greenvale has packing operations in Cambridgeshire and in Berwickshire, Scotland.

A Greenvale spokesman said today: "This matter was brought to the attention of J Sainsbury by a company called Produce Investments, the holding company of Greenvale AP, following an internal investigation into payments made to individuals outside the Produce Investments group.

"The matter was then referred to the police."

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "We can confirm allegations have been made concerning certain payments and benefits by a supplier to an individual employed by us.

"We have the highest standards of corporate governance and following inquiries have passed our findings to the police for further investigation."

The news highlights the controversial relationship between Britain's largest supermarkets and their suppliers.

Farmers and small retailers have complained the large chains have too much power to set prices and the Competition Commission is investigating the issue in its report on the grocery market which is due out next month.