I had seen this same story a couple of years before, I just don't remember where or what the name of the program is.
Rudy Kurniawan, of Asian extraction, was living life large and getting into wines, and he established a very lucrative business selling rare and expensive wines to wealthy connoisseurs and collectors. The problem was, all those wines were fake. Rudy blended cheap wines to approximate the color and character of those rare wines, he made fake labels, properly "aged", and became wealthy with his ruse.
He went to trial, with a not-guilty plea, but the evidence was too overwhelming, his "lab", his purchases of special papers for labels, his purchases of used wine bottles, his blending formulas, plus the forensic evidence. Surprising even the prosecutors he was sentenced to 10 years in prison where he currently is, in the California desert.
The circumstantial evidence is he had accomplices, there just was no way he could have faked the amount he did without help, it was a time- consuming operation. But no one else has been accused, although it appears some of his family members have also stolen untold millions and fled to foreign countries.
Good documentary. I am glad for two reasons, as a wine-lover. It is good to see at least some of the counterfeiters are being caught. But most of all, even though I am a red wine lover, I love to find the excellent wines at excellent prices. Give me a good $12 Cabernet or Zinfandel, those will never be counterfeited because it would make no sense to do so!
Rudy Kurniawan, of Asian extraction, was living life large and getting into wines, and he established a very lucrative business selling rare and expensive wines to wealthy connoisseurs and collectors. The problem was, all those wines were fake. Rudy blended cheap wines to approximate the color and character of those rare wines, he made fake labels, properly "aged", and became wealthy with his ruse.
He went to trial, with a not-guilty plea, but the evidence was too overwhelming, his "lab", his purchases of special papers for labels, his purchases of used wine bottles, his blending formulas, plus the forensic evidence. Surprising even the prosecutors he was sentenced to 10 years in prison where he currently is, in the California desert.
The circumstantial evidence is he had accomplices, there just was no way he could have faked the amount he did without help, it was a time- consuming operation. But no one else has been accused, although it appears some of his family members have also stolen untold millions and fled to foreign countries.
Good documentary. I am glad for two reasons, as a wine-lover. It is good to see at least some of the counterfeiters are being caught. But most of all, even though I am a red wine lover, I love to find the excellent wines at excellent prices. Give me a good $12 Cabernet or Zinfandel, those will never be counterfeited because it would make no sense to do so!