A Scandal in The Bordeaux Vineyards: Chinese Entrepreneur Accused of Embezzling $33 Million From Government to Go on Castle-Buying Spree

A Chinese investor is accused of embezzling money in a Bordeaux vineyard scandal.  (Photo: AP Photo/Bob Edme)

On Tuesday, The Drinks Business reported that a Chinese entrepreneur was accused of embezzling the equivalent of $33 million in government grants in what media headlines are referring to as a Bordeaux vineyard scandal.

Qu Naijie, a 63-year-old entrepreneur with a net worth of $800 million, according to Forbes, allegedly embezzled $33 million that was granted by the Chinese government to his company, Haichang Group. The funds were meant to be allocated toward investments in digital technology but were apparently diverted to a Bordeaux vineyard purchasing spree of 25 different châteaux.

In February, Qu is set to go to trial in Paris for the charges listed against him.

French news outlet Sud Ouest penned an article with a title that translated to “Bordeaux: an accounting firm caught up in the Chinese castle scandal” and claimed that Qu entered some of Bordeaux’s most elite circles with the purported embezzled funds. He had relationships with the former winemaker of Baron Philippe de Rothschild and was a member of the Bordeaux Chambres de Commerce et d’Industrie. Qu reportedly used the embezzled funds to launch a wine festival in his hometown of Dailan in China’s Liaoning Province.

Prosecutors accused Qu of using counterfeit records, claiming he had purchased additional vineyards to take out an additional $31 million loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Luxembourg, as reported by The Times.

This is not the first time the entrepreneur found himself in hot water over accusations of financial crimes regarding Bordeaux châteaux.

According to Wine Spectator in July 2018, Qu found himself in the hot seat on suspicions of money laundering and tax fraud. The investigation was handled by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office in Paris.

Qu’s legal team denied the allegations and cited discrimination from Bordeaux locals as the key motivating factor.

“There is a reaction against the ‘invaders,'” Maxime Delhomme, the lawyer for the Haichang Group, said, according to Wine Spectator.

After making a fortune in oil and transportation, Qu entered the wine trade in 2010. He began acquiring Bordeaux châteaux from 2010 to 2013 and amassed a collection of over two dozen different properties.

A few years later, President Xi Jinping began arresting, executing and seizing property of individuals misusing government funds. Qu began to slow down the purchases of Bordeaux vineyards at that time.

In 2014, Wine Spectator shared that China’s National Audit Office published a list of companies that were accused of spending $43 million in government-allocated funds to purchase Bordeaux châteaux. The Haichang Group was mentioned.

Qu claims that he is innocent.

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