Wine Con Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Identity Theft, Wire Fraud and Swindling New Yorkers Out of Nearly $7 Million
A wine con man was sentenced to two years in federal prison over defrauding New York oenophiles out of almost $7 million. (Photo: AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
Grub Street at the New York Magazine reported on Monday that Omar Khan, a wine con man, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for participating in a criminal scam targeting oenophiles in New York. Khan defrauded wealthy winos out of almost $7 million and ended up pleading guilty in March to one charge of identity theft.
Khan initially faced multiple charges, including wire fraud in 2020, but the wire fraud charges were ultimately dropped, resulting in a shorter sentence of two years. Khan was staying in Sri Lanka at the time.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York attempted to extradite Khan from Sri Lanka, and eventually, he had to return to the United States after overstaying his visa. He was arrested by the FBI in February.
One of Khan’s victims, Krešimir Penavić, filed multiple lawsuits against Khan. The wealthy individual earned his fortune at Renaissance Technologies and was a patron of wine-tasting events Khan would host. Khan convinced him to invest $5 million into his event business, but Penavić never saw returns.
Wine Spectator reported in September that Khan would organize exclusive dinners with cuisine cooked by some of the best chefs in the world. The dishes were paired with rare wines like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Château Cheval Blanc and more. These dinners were punctuated by keynote speakers, who Wine Spectator reported were “leading business minds.”
Khan was accused of pocketing the money given to him by investors and wine retailers, and 13 of his clients sued Khan in New York in September 2019.
“I was a prosecutor for 11 years and have been a lawyer for 30 years and I’ve never seen such a brazen example of a con man taking advantage of decent hardworking people,” Attorney Robert Seiden claimed, according to Wine Spectator. “This guy is like a micro-Madoff. He engaged in a multi-year scheme to defraud people in return for entry into the global wine world.”
Khan fled to Sri Lanka shortly after the lawsuit was filed and incidents of the fraud began to make media headlines. He was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York after he was expelled from the country.
“Omar Khan’s wine-and-dine scheme did not age well,” FBI Assistant Director James Smith said, according to the Robb Report. “For four years, Khan exploited the prestigious reputation of the wine industry to embezzle millions of dollars from well-intended investors using empty promises of future, lavish networking events while offering excuses for the lack of returns. He utilized his public notoriety as a wine aficionado to lure and coax his victims into financing significant amounts, costing some the entirety of their investments.”
Khan was ordered to pay $6,699,582 in restitution fees to those he swindled.
Khan’s wife defended her husband and claimed he was “an extremely warm and loving husband.” She claimed that he was “very remorseful about the poor choices he made.”
A judge asked Khan whether he felt remorse during his sentencing:
“I feel it today,” he said.
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