Category: Wine Fraud In the News

Vintage Wine Estates, Inc filed a trademark infringement suit again Dan Cohn on February 29, 2016. In the suit, they claim that they purchased the intellectual property, including the name "Cohn"  on July 24, 2015, and Dan Cohn violated the terms of this agreement when he created Daniel Cohn Wine…

Three Michelin-Star restaurant chef, Benoît Violier, was found dead from an apparent suicide on February 1, 2016. After his death, it was found that he was a victim of a ponzi scheme wine scam with the company, Private Finance Partners. This company sold expensive bottles of wine to multiple parties…

Rudy Kurniawan purchased 250 shares in the de Montille family winery making his ownership 22.73% of the winery. When Kurniawan was arrested, he forfeited the shares to the government which allowed Etienne de Montille to purchase them back. Read more here.

The council found shops without licenses for selling alcohol, selling counterfeit wines and spirits, and not paying taxes, and seized their alcohol. The council stressed that the alcohol content could be incorrect causing danger to consumers, and the businesses are not helping to support the community with their taxes. Read…

Jeff Berrill who liquidated Westminster Fine Wines has been sentenced to 12 months in prison. He was charged for taking money and never delivering on 57 cases of wine for 11 investors. There are additional investors who were not named in this lawsuit, that also never received the wine they…

One man was arrested in London on accounts of insurance fraud. The total charges were conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offenses. Over years, many insurance claims were made by a wine bar called “The Lounge,” which was never opened. Read more here.

An Australian company is trialing labels embedded with microchips to use against counterfeiters. These microchips can track the history of the wine, checking provenance, and can verify authenticity. The microchips will be connected to a smartphone app that users can use to track the wines. Read more here.

A group of students at the University of Texas is using technology to see if the wines bottled are what they say they are. The technology is sensors that detect tannins, and can determine when the grapes were picked, and what varietal is used. These tests can be used to…