Ponzi scheme leaves investors wining to be whole

[pmbug]

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.
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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.
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Empty bottles: Alleged mastermind of $100 million wine fraud extradited to U.S.

The alleged mastermind behind a fine-wine investment strategy prosecutors say was actually a $100 million Ponzi scheme has been extradited to the United...

www.marketwatch.com

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

 

[Someone_else]

Just the summary is full of red flags...

...for high-yield lending to people who had high-priced wine as collateral...

Exactly how many fit this strange profile of wealth (wine) and poverty (need loans)?

...would approach wine connoisseurs at investor conferences...

Here is another strange profile. People who can buy super expensive wine, but go to "investor conferences"? If they are already wealthy, why would they bother with garbage advice from a "conference" instead of continuing to use the acumen they already have?

lending to high-net-worth individuals who needed quick access to cash.

Here is a seriously flaming hot red flag, if true, and also a red flag if it is a lie.

if borrowers defaulted, they would just sell the wine so investors would never lose their money.

Right... Because they can just sell the wine any time for the full declared value.

Fools and thieves can't sit still until they get together and dance.