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Growth in wine theft - 12/8/2023 6:26:17 AM

Echinosum

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From: Buckinghamshire, UK
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This article discusses the growth in theft of expensive wine, from high-end restaurants and merchants.

The second half of the article retreads some of the stories of wine fakery. At the end, it suggests that Kurniawan, now released from prison and deported to Indonesia, has got himself to Singapore, and is trying to attract the attention of wine drinkers there.

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/8/2023 10:05:21 AM

Claymonster

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From: Claymont, DE
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Thanks for sharing. Will read it this weekend.

RE: Kurniawan, I just listened to a WE podcast where they followed up on his whereabouts and dealings. Seems as if his blending/forgery skills are still in demand. Kind of like a parlor trick for people with money to pay for it.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-153-where-is-wine-counterfeiter-rudy-kurniawan-now/id1168716155?i=1000634046889

(in reply to Echinosum)

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/8/2023 10:05:22 AM

skifree

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The article looked interesting but I could only read the first couple of paragraphs before I ran into a pay wall, fyi.

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/9/2023 3:16:33 AM

Echinosum

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quote:

ORIGINAL: skifree

The article looked interesting but I could only read the first couple of paragraphs before I ran into a pay wall, fyi.

I didn't suffer a paywall and I'm not subscribed to anything. But I observe I was reading with a GB-tagged URL, which is what I have linked to.

(in reply to skifree)

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/10/2023 7:29:04 AM

DoubleD1969

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I wonder if the vast majority of these thefts are inside jobs.

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/10/2023 9:15:28 AM

fingers

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All I know is that destroying the evidence would be a blast!

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/11/2023 5:34:17 AM

khmark7

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DoubleD1969

I wonder if the vast majority of these thefts are inside jobs.

Especially now that people can see almost real time values, critics wine scores and then go sell stuff online at auctions for good prices.

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/13/2023 7:42:40 AM

annerk

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Because the thief received calls while he was in the act, I'm going out on a limb to say that he was operating for someone who was telling him exactly what to take, and where to find it. Someone who was likely intimately familiar with that room. Who knew how to avoid anything that would set off the alarm. Either an employee, owner, or customer who had spent a great deal of time there.

It reminds me of the French Laundry heist.

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/16/2023 9:52:12 PM

hadukla

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quote:

ORIGINAL: khmark7

quote:

ORIGINAL: DoubleD1969

I wonder if the vast majority of these thefts are inside jobs.

Especially now that people can see almost real time values, critics wine scores and then go sell stuff online at auctions for good prices.

Auctions? or private buyers... I would hope auction houses are verifying provenance. Sure, verifying that the bottle of 1806 d'Yquem came from a restaurant that was robbed could qualify as provenance but would that house really risk that?

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/16/2023 11:00:05 PM

BenG

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quote:

ORIGINAL: hadukla
Auctions? or private buyers... I would hope auction houses are verifying provenance. Sure, verifying that the bottle of 1806 d'Yquem came from a restaurant that was robbed could qualify as provenance but would that house really risk that?

Auction houses have a pretty spotty record with verifying provenance, especially back in the days of Hardy and Rudy.

(in reply to hadukla)

Post #: 10

RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/17/2023 12:07:17 AM

Rich64N

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I've seen articles in the past few weeks of New York City (NYC) wine storage places stealing wine to put into their retail upstairs https://nypost.com/2023/12/14/news/new-york-wine-crisis-1000-bottles-in-times-square-basement/ . Plus wine Ponzi schemes to the tune of $99M https://nypost.com/2023/12/16/metro/uk-man-arraigned-in-brooklyn-court-on-fine-wine-ponzi-scheme-feds/. As a reminder, one of the Koch brothers (I don't hate them, and he is now dead) started the major investigations into wine fraud over a dozen years ago and had the deep pockets to make a case.

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RE: Growth in wine theft - 12/17/2023 8:21:28 AM

BenG

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rich64N
As a reminder, one of the Koch brothers (I don't hate them, and he is now dead) started the major investigations into wine fraud over a dozen years ago and had the deep pockets to make a case.

The Koch brother that started the investigation into wine fraud is Bill Koch and he is still alive. Even though he is part of the same Koch family, he is not one of the two brothers commonly referred to as the "Koch Brothers" in political circles (that would be Charles and David).

< Message edited by BenG -- 12/17/2023 8:22:45 AM >

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Post #: 12