Ponzi scheme involving wine

[bernorange 8366]

Quote

Stephen Burton, 58, of the United Kingdom, was flown to New York from Morocco on Friday to be arraigned on charges of money laundering and wire fraud for a yearslong scheme that allegedly involved providing high-yield loans backed by ultra-high-priced wines that didn’t exist.
...
Prosecutors say that from 2017 through 2019, Burton was the chief executive of Bordeaux Cellars, an investment scheme based in the U.K. and Hong Kong that pooled money for high-yield lending to people who had high-priced wine as collateral. Over the years, the men said they had amassed a cache of high-priced bottles of wine worth millions in a storage facility in London.

According to court filings, Burton and Wellesely would approach wine connoisseurs at investor conferences and sales shows and pitch them the scheme which they said would yield 12% interest by lending to high-net-worth individuals who needed quick access to cash.

They claimed that they would only lend up to 35% of the value of the millions of dollars worth of wine held in storage and that if borrowers defaulted, they would just sell the wine so investors would never lose their money. The pair claimed they had lent out $152 million in such loans over the course of six years.
...

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/empty-bottles-alleged-mastermind-of-100-million-wine-fraud-extradited-to-u-s-ce7c8b20?mod=mw_rss_topstories

Stephen Burton's motto is (allegedly): "I will sell fine wine that is not mine."

[MAUFRAIS 6642]

Vini vidi Vinci

[bernorange 8366]

* Veni

[MAUFRAIS 6642]

What’s that? Oh it’s Latin isn’t it?

[deadshank 24653]

En veritas vino. 
 

Maybe.  Maybe not.  

[miguelito 11313]

51 minutes ago, MAUFRAIS said:

Vini vidi Vinci

 

Ah yes, how sweet the wine.

[Chooky 13319]

That aged well. 

[Parliament 14334]

Should have involved a cattle arbitrage of some kind.

[bernorange 8366]

4 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Should have involved a cattle arbitrage of some kind.

Are you suggesting a wine and cheese pairing?

[Deej 76944]

He should have doubled down and sold imaginary cat litter to the wealthy single ladies who were buying the wine. 

[Gatorubet 30321]

Wait - I should not have cornered the market on playful sea monkeys and chinchilla ranches?

[Thetexashammer 1062]

44 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

Wait - I should not have cornered the market on playful sea monkeys and chinchilla ranches?

You need a herd of emus. They are the next big thing. Taste like chicken.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Thetexashammer

[Captain Ron 12930]

Whine all you want, you’re going to jail.

[Parliament 14334]

2 hours ago, Deej said:

He should have doubled down and sold imaginary cat litter to the wealthy single ladies who were buying the wine. 

How about an imaginary monkey?