A California seller of vintage wines is facing 11 years in prison after he was convicted of making as much as $20 million selling bogus bottles of wine. [CBS]
Rudy Kurniawan, who was convicted of wire and mail fraud in December, filled already used wine bottles with cheap wine, created a new label and sold his creations as a high-priced bottles of vintage wine. For example, Kurniawan auctioned off a phony double-magnum of 1947 Chateau Petrus for $30,000.
Another victim of Kurniawan’s fraud, a New York bank, is on the hook for several million in a loan they provided Kurniawan who used his bogus vintage wine collection as collateral
A federal judge is slated to sentence Kurniawan on Thursday. Prosecutors are asking for a sentence of at least 11 years while his defense attorney is saying the two years he has already spent in jail is enough.
