A Trio of Alleged Scam Artists Arrested After Swindling Merchant out of Over $100,000 Worth of Wine
(Photo: AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
This month, authorities arrested two men and a woman for their alleged involvement in a wine scam worth over $100,000. The trio reportedly used fake money to trick a merchant into selling 20 bottles of wine. The incident originally occurred in Feb. and it took several months for authorities to track down the suspects.
The scam involved a man reaching out to a wine merchant in Paris. He claimed to be working with a Russian couple, who wanted to buy bottles of Pétrus from the 2000 vintage. Bottles of this wine often sell for around $5,000 and are highly regarded.
After some negotiations, the couple is said to have agreed to pay €95,000 (around $100,000) for 18 bottles of Pétrus and two bottles of Champagne.
The merchant managed to find and buy the bottles quickly and invested a lot of money into the deal. As described by Le Parisien, the exchange happened in the merchant’s car. The men acted as the distraction by pulling out a bag of what at first glance appeared to be €200 notes. Simultaneously, the woman collected the bottles of wine and started to walk away.
Unfortunately, the merchant realized too late that the whole deal was a scam. He attempted to chase after the cons on foot but in a matter of moments they had all disappeared.
The trio had been able to elude authorities for several months but have since been arrested. Two of the suspects were still residing near Paris while coincidently the other individual was already in prison for another scam. The three defendants are expected in court on Nov. 16.
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