A judge has indicated he will sign off on a $100,000 penalty and four-year ban against the former CFO of Noumi, who has admitted his role in the food company’s non-disclosures.
Noumi has argued a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by its lawyers at Ashurst is protected by legal professional privilege, after the food manufacturer admitted to overstating the value of its inventory and failing to properly disclose its financial position.
The applicants in a shareholder class action against the former Freedom Foods have failed in a bid to cross-examine Noumi’s inhouse counsel on affidavits swearing to the legal professional privilege of 3,000 documents, including material containing advice from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The corporate watchdog has brought action against former Freedom Foods Group and its former CEO and CFO for alleged disclosure breaches relating to inventory values in its 2019 financial reports.