Six people have been arrested as part of an investigation into a wine fraud ring that allegedly sold counterfeit French wines for up to €15,000 a bottle.
Police in Italy searched 14 properties and seized large quantities of wine, wine bottles and fake stickers from major French vineyards and machinery used to reconstitute the bottles, according to a statement from the European law enforcement agency Europol published on Tuesday.
The police also seized electronic equipment worth 1.4 million euros and more than 100 thousand euros in cash. “The fake wine was counterfeited in Italy, then delivered to an Italian airport and exported for sale at market prices around the world by honest wine traders,” Europol said in the statement.
The techniques used by the forgers revealed a link to a previous investigation involving a Russian fraudster, which was closed in 2015, Europol said.
According to a statement from French prosecutors published on Tuesday, a 40-year-old Russian man, who was previously convicted of participating in a similar wine fraud under a different identity, is involved in the latest investigation.
Wines over 2 million euros
Prosecutors said the chain managed to sell “a large volume of French grands crus” worth more than 2 million euros.
A judge in the French city of Dijon has charged a French citizen with fraud and money laundering, and the Russian citizen will appear before the same judge for arraignment, according to the statement.
This research was conducted under the leadership of the French gendarmeriewhile the Italian Carabinieri and the Swiss Federal Police were also involved.
In October 2020, Italian police dismantled a gang that produced fake Sassicaia wine, a variety considered one of the best in the world, which sells for hundreds of euros a bottle, Reuters reported.
Bolgheri Sassicaia red wine comes from a region on the Tuscan coast and has become one of Italy’s best-known fine wines since it hit the market in the 1970s.
Source: CNN