Former Royal Navy Chef Jailed Over $1.66 Million Sea Bass Fraud

Redhead will serve prison time for defrauding the supermarket chain out of an estimated $1.66 million

Michael Redhead, a former chef for the British Royal Navy, has been arrested for committing £1.1 million in fraud (approximately $1.66 Million) against the UK-based Iceland supermarket chain, reports The Telegraph.

Redhead has been found guilty of misleading the supermarket company into believing that his supply of fish labeled "sea bass" was actually Japanese sea bass, of the perch species.

Redhead allegedly replaced the sea bass with the cheaper fish and then forged a certificate of authentication. A judge called his transgressions a "scandal," and that the chef's actions had compromised the public's confidence in food safety "at a time of heightened concern about the origin and identification of food," according to The Telegraph.

Nearly 400,000 packs of mislabeled fish were sold across 600 Iceland locations across the country, defrauding the supermarket chain out of an estimated $1.66 million.

Redhead was sentenced to six months in jail and his company, Michael Redhead Associates Ltd, was fined £50,000 (approximately $75,000).