Wine Fraud: Man Guilty Over Fake Vintages
Rudy Kurniawan passed off wine made in his kitchen as some of the world's rarest and used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Thursday 19 December 2013 01:17, UK
A California man has been convicted of fraud for manufacturing fake vintage wine in his kitchen and selling it to collectors.
Rudy Kurniawan was found guilty after selling as much as $1.3m (£793,000) of counterfeit bottles to unwitting buyers.
Kurniawan, 37, who was described as a once-influential figure in the high-end wines market, put on a "magic show" to fool aficionados into thinking he had access to the world's rarest bottles, prosecutors said.
The court heard that the wine he sold at auction to wealthy collectors had actually been produced at his home in Arcadia, California.
Kurniawan’s attorney argued that police investigating Indonesian-born Kurniawan had been wrong to assume that the hundreds of corks and other winemaking paraphernalia found in the dwelling were evidence that the property had been converted into a fake wine factory.
The fraud was said to have funded a lavish lifestyle in suburban Los Angeles, including luxury cars and designer clothing. He now faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 24.
Among those testifying was billionaire yachtsman, entrepreneur and wine investor William Koch, who said he was cheated by Kurniawan into paying $2.1m for 219 fake bottles of wine.
"I was disappointed and I was angry," he said.
Michael Egan, a fine wine expert hired by Mr Koch to determine how many of the 43,000 bottles of wine he owns are fake, testified that evidence collected from Kurniawan's property included 19,000 counterfeit wine bottle labels representing 27 of the world's best wines.
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