Police roll up wine fraud gang that sold fake wine for €15,000

Police roll up wine fraud gang that sold fake wine for €15,000

French and Italian police recently busted an international fraud gang that sold poor-quality bottles of red wine as expensive bottles from famous French domaines. The gang forged labels and charged up to 15,000 euros per bottle. Europol reported this last week.

Six people, including a Russian who is the suspected ringleader, have been arrested in Paris, Turin and Milan. They allegedly made fake labels depicting famous French grand cru wines. The fake wine was forged in Italy, then delivered to an Italian airport and exported. The fake wines were then sold at full market value through wine merchants around the world, up to €15,000 per bottle. The fraud amounted to at least €2 million.

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