Decanter World Wine AwardsBordeaux Wine Trading fraudster convicted
- Wednesday 13 July 2011
Pic: www.justlanded.com: £1.2m of orders were not fulfilled
UPDATE 14 July 2011. Paul Craven has been sentenced to six years andOseghale Hayble to five years for their part in the fraud.
The verdict was returned on Paul Craven, of Bordeaux Wine Trading Ltd, at St Albans Crown Court. The jury returned a unanimous verdict after a trial lasting just over three weeks.
Craven set up Bordeaux Wine Trading in July 2006. BWTC sold £1.2m of 2005 First Growths en primeur but never placed any orders with negociants in Bordeaux.
Instead investors’ money was spent on cars, Cartier watches, lavish holidays and cocaine. Only £12,200 has been recovered – £200 in a bank account and £12,000 in cash under Craven’s bed.
Craven will be sentenced on Thursday along with Oseghale Hayble, who was also a defendant in this trial until he was taken ill.
In December 2010 Hayble was found guilty of fraud for his part in running International Wine Commodities Ltd.
Prior to BWTC Craven had worked briefly at another en primeur company, the Bordeaux Wine Company, owned by Frederick Achom and Anthony Grant, both of whom have been convicted of fraud and are barred from being company directors until July 2013.
Hertfordshire Police carried out the investigation.
Have your say!
Clab
July 19 16:47
even more amazing, the french justice which lets survive a well-known french company which is neither delivering or only a little part of the primeurs to the clients ...
is it because the CEO belongs the the "good" parisian society ?
Jim Budd
July 15 11:05
Mauss. I agree too many people appear happy to write large cheques to companies they know nothing about who have cold called them.
RICK GEYER
July 14 18:23
Let the buyer beware; if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. You should know who you are dealing with. I advise people and sell futures, our company has been family owned for over 50 years. We take our 5 Star rating very seriously.
Evan Byrne
July 14 16:42
Given the News International revelations here in the UK, it seems incredible to me that these two have been caught and tried so quickly. In 2003 Rebekah Brooks stated publicly that her newspaper had committed a criminal act and after 8 years she has still not been arrested...