Mount Maunganui based kiwifruit exporter Zespri is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.

But while the SFO confirms that Zespri is under investigation, it will not say what the investigation is about.

Zespri kiwifruit being packed. Photo: File.

'We are not actually confirming any information in regard to what it relates to, all we are confirming is that we are investigating Zespri,” says an SFO spokesperson today.

Attempts to link the investigation to Zespri's other recent China crisis were not encouraged.

'It might just be a stab in the dark,” says the spokesperson.

Zespri knows nothing about the SFO investigation, says a Zespri spokesperson.

'Zespri has not been contacted by the Serious Fraud Office and has no details of the scope or substance of an investigation. Zespri will cooperate with any investigation the Serious Fraud Office may undertake.”

On July 17 this year SunLive reported the opinion of prospective board member Tom Wilson that a Zespri subsidiary company's conviction in China for smuggling could lead to calls for investigations by the Serious Fraud Office, or the Financial Markets Authority.

'Zespri's current and past directors have to take responsibility for what has happened and shareholders have the right to register a complaint against them,” says Tom.

A Shanghai Court upheld the findings against Zespri's China-based subsidiary and one of the subsidiary's employees, relating to the under-declaration of customs duties on imports into Shanghai of New Zealand kiwifruit between 2008 and 2010.

In March the court found Zespri Management Consulting Company guilty of smuggling and ordered it to pay RMB5 million (approximately NZD$960,000). Its employee, a US citizen, was sentenced to five years' jail for being an accessory. Zespri's appeal was unsuccessful.