It's actually quite easy to cheat with 'and scoop' wine, because you don't have to show it to the buyer yet. It is still in the barrel in Bordeaux and is judged there based on harvest results and tastings. A price tag is put on it long before the wine is bottled.
Text: Marjolein Schuman | Image: Jacobins Saint Emilion
Director Eldric Ko of investment company Premium Liquid Assets in Singapore probably figured this out too. Between 2007 and 2011, he offered 400 investors to buy en primeur wine. He promised to store the bottles after release and eventually transfer them to them. One of them was even tricked into paying €58,500 for 36 bottles of wine.
However, the money did not go to France but to his own bank account in Singapore, totalling €11,400,000. Investors became suspicious after repeatedly asking about the status of their wines. When the investigation started in 2011, Eldric took off, but after 13 years on the run, he was recently arrested.
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