Bloomberg reported that the sentencing hearing of a man who has been convicted of selling over twenty million dollars' wort of counterfeit wines has been delayed by a federal judge. US District Judge Richard Berman has said at a hearing today in a Manhattan federal court that the sentencing of Rudy Kurniawan was postponed on the account that only a handful of the victims of could receive restitution from the scam, have come forward.
Berman is insisting knowing who are the victims of the fraud and how much money was scammed from each victim. Moreover, Bloomberg said Berman has also asked US probation officials to probe on Kurniawan's net worth, which could mean that the judge is doubtful on whether the over $8 million calculation provided by the probation officials remains accurate.
Among the victims is billionaire William Koch, who reportedly purchased fake rare vintage wines from Kurniawan for millions of dollars. Koch is among the few wine collectors who had declared in public that he was duped by Kurniawan. Testifying at the alleged swindler's trial, Koch claimed that he lost around $2.1 million on purchases of around 219 bottles of fake wines, of which some were marketed to him as original Chateau Petrus and Domaine de la Romanee-Conti wines.
In a letter to Berman, Koch wrote, "Collectors who know they have purchased counterfeit wine frequently refuse to assist in uncovering the fraud because they are either embarrassed or because they simply want to get their money back."
The brother of industrialists and fellow billionaires Charles and David Koch, William has reportedly launched a legal campaign against counterfeits in the wine industry. Koch was quoted as saying that he had hired more than a half-dozen wine experts to scour his 43,000-bottle cellar for fakes.
Aside from Koch, Kurniawan's other victims include Vornado Realty Trust Chief Executive Officer Michael Fascitelli, and Petco Animal Supplies Inc. Chairman Brian Devine, according to filings from their defense lawyers and the government. Bloomberg noted that neither of the two had provided testimonies at Kurniawan's trial.
