• 波尔多酒窖（Bordeaux Cellars）创始人斯蒂芬·伯顿于上周四对联邦指控认罪。此前，斯蒂芬·伯顿与其商业伙伴詹姆斯·韦尔斯利被指控经营欺诈性葡萄酒借贷业务，致使全球超百名受害者蒙受损失。
两位发小因经营承诺高额回报的奢华葡萄酒借贷业务，最终导致投资者损失近1亿美元，如今两人站上了纽约一桩数百万美元欺诈案的被告席。
被吊销执照的英国律师詹姆斯·韦尔斯利及其前商业伙伴斯蒂芬·伯顿共同创建并经营了本案核心企业波尔多酒窖。韦尔斯利两周前被引渡至美国，面临电信欺诈和洗钱指控；而伯顿则于2023年完成引渡。
二人最初均不认罪。但《财富》杂志获悉，伯顿周四在布鲁克林法庭改认有罪。
美国检察官办公室（U.S. Attorney’s Office）的代表对《财富》杂志表示，上周四，伯顿承认共谋实施电信欺诈及洗钱罪。两项罪名最高可判监禁20年，具体判决将于明年1月6日的听证会上宣布。伯顿的认罪协议包含强制赔偿及资产没收条款，具体金额未当庭披露。
2022年纽约东区法院提交的起诉书指控两位被告从超140位投资者（其中71位在美国）处募集9,940万美元，共造成2,500万美元损失。检方指出波尔多酒窖基本从未持有其宣称的作为抵押品的葡萄酒，贷款文件中列出的诸多特定名庄酒从未在其酒库保管范围内。
起诉书指控的罪名包含一项共谋电信欺诈罪、三项电信欺诈罪及一项共谋洗钱罪。若罪名成立，每人最高面临20年监禁。
美国检察官布里昂·皮斯在2022年指控声明中强调：“与二人声称持有的顶级葡萄酒不同，被告对投资者的连篇谎话可经不起时间考验。”
自称毕业于斯坦福商学院（Stanford Business School）的伯顿被指为波尔多酒窖的策划者，他于2010年创立该公司，标榜为需要现金流的富豪藏家提供独特解决方案。检方称该公司以拉弗尔酒庄、罗曼尼康帝等顶级酒品为抵押品进行短期贷款中介，承诺投资者年化收益率高达12%。
他们的骗局曾一度得逞。多数投资者基本都能如期收到利息与季度报告。据《泰晤士报》调查发现，凭借优雅的葡萄酒知识与环球旅行者的形象，伯顿混迹于伦敦、纽约及香港的葡萄酒界精英中；韦尔斯利担任运营核心兼首席财务官，负责公司账务。2013至2016年期间，他曾因另一起金额达770万美元的豪宅诈骗案入狱三年。韦尔斯利早在20世纪90年代就因涉嫌挪用客户超10万美元引发法律纠纷，最终导致律师执照被吊销。
法律文件显示，到2019年初，伯顿和韦尔斯利的骗局开始崩塌：利息支付中断，波尔多酒窖伦敦办公室电话无人接听。一位汇款20万美元的投资者发现所谓的“抵押酒”根本不存在。检方认定整个运作不过是一个庞氏骗局。
伯顿最终于2019年情人节在英国被捕。当局在其随身物品中查获两本假护照、金条、名贵手表及约百万美元多币种现金。英国法院以洗钱及持有伪造文件罪判处其四年监禁。但伯顿2020年夏获释后离开了英国，彼时美国当局已启动对波尔多酒窖的调查。2022年，伯顿持伪造津巴布韦护照入境摩洛哥时，遭联邦调查局通缉逮捕。
韦尔斯利于2022年被捕，在英国监狱羁押数年后于7月11日被引渡至纽约。其同伙认罪是否会影响韦尔斯利的命运走向尚不可知。庭审日期仍未确定。截至发稿，两名被告的律师均未立即回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。（*）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
• 波尔多酒窖（Bordeaux Cellars）创始人斯蒂芬·伯顿于上周四对联邦指控认罪。此前，斯蒂芬·伯顿与其商业伙伴詹姆斯·韦尔斯利被指控经营欺诈性葡萄酒借贷业务，致使全球超百名受害者蒙受损失。
两位发小因经营承诺高额回报的奢华葡萄酒借贷业务，最终导致投资者损失近1亿美元，如今两人站上了纽约一桩数百万美元欺诈案的被告席。
被吊销执照的英国律师詹姆斯·韦尔斯利及其前商业伙伴斯蒂芬·伯顿共同创建并经营了本案核心企业波尔多酒窖。韦尔斯利两周前被引渡至美国，面临电信欺诈和洗钱指控；而伯顿则于2023年完成引渡。
二人最初均不认罪。但《财富》杂志获悉，伯顿周四在布鲁克林法庭改认有罪。
美国检察官办公室（U.S. Attorney’s Office）的代表对《财富》杂志表示，上周四，伯顿承认共谋实施电信欺诈及洗钱罪。两项罪名最高可判监禁20年，具体判决将于明年1月6日的听证会上宣布。伯顿的认罪协议包含强制赔偿及资产没收条款，具体金额未当庭披露。
2022年纽约东区法院提交的起诉书指控两位被告从超140位投资者（其中71位在美国）处募集9,940万美元，共造成2,500万美元损失。检方指出波尔多酒窖基本从未持有其宣称的作为抵押品的葡萄酒，贷款文件中列出的诸多特定名庄酒从未在其酒库保管范围内。
起诉书指控的罪名包含一项共谋电信欺诈罪、三项电信欺诈罪及一项共谋洗钱罪。若罪名成立，每人最高面临20年监禁。
美国检察官布里昂·皮斯在2022年指控声明中强调：“与二人声称持有的顶级葡萄酒不同，被告对投资者的连篇谎话可经不起时间考验。”
自称毕业于斯坦福商学院（Stanford Business School）的伯顿被指为波尔多酒窖的策划者，他于2010年创立该公司，标榜为需要现金流的富豪藏家提供独特解决方案。检方称该公司以拉弗尔酒庄、罗曼尼康帝等顶级酒品为抵押品进行短期贷款中介，承诺投资者年化收益率高达12%。
他们的骗局曾一度得逞。多数投资者基本都能如期收到利息与季度报告。据《泰晤士报》调查发现，凭借优雅的葡萄酒知识与环球旅行者的形象，伯顿混迹于伦敦、纽约及香港的葡萄酒界精英中；韦尔斯利担任运营核心兼首席财务官，负责公司账务。2013至2016年期间，他曾因另一起金额达770万美元的豪宅诈骗案入狱三年。韦尔斯利早在20世纪90年代就因涉嫌挪用客户超10万美元引发法律纠纷，最终导致律师执照被吊销。
法律文件显示，到2019年初，伯顿和韦尔斯利的骗局开始崩塌：利息支付中断，波尔多酒窖伦敦办公室电话无人接听。一位汇款20万美元的投资者发现所谓的“抵押酒”根本不存在。检方认定整个运作不过是一个庞氏骗局。
伯顿最终于2019年情人节在英国被捕。当局在其随身物品中查获两本假护照、金条、名贵手表及约百万美元多币种现金。英国法院以洗钱及持有伪造文件罪判处其四年监禁。但伯顿2020年夏获释后离开了英国，彼时美国当局已启动对波尔多酒窖的调查。2022年，伯顿持伪造津巴布韦护照入境摩洛哥时，遭联邦调查局通缉逮捕。
韦尔斯利于2022年被捕，在英国监狱羁押数年后于7月11日被引渡至纽约。其同伙认罪是否会影响韦尔斯利的命运走向尚不可知。庭审日期仍未确定。截至发稿，两名被告的律师均未立即回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。（*）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
• Stephen Burton, founder of Bordeaux Cellars, pled guilty to federal charges on Thursday after he and his business partner, James Wellesley, were accused of running a fraudulent wine lending business that ripped off more than 100 victims across the world.
Two childhood friends have found themselves at the center of a multimillion-dollar fraud prosecution in New York after what started as a luxury wine lending business promising lucrative returns cost investors nearly $100 million.
James Wellesley, a disbarred British lawyer, and his former business partner, Stephen Burton, established and ran Bordeaux Cellars, the company at the center of the federal inquiry. Wellesley was extradited to the U.S. two weeks ago to face charges of wire fraud and money laundering; Burton, meanwhile, was extradited in 2023.
Both men originally pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Thursday, however, Fortune learned Burton changed his plea to guilty in a Brooklyn courtroom.
Representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Fortune Burton pleaded guilty Thursday to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for both charges, and his sentence will be announced at a January 6 hearing. Burton’s plea also included mandatory restitution and a forfeiture agreement, the dollar amount of which was not stated on the record.
The indictment of Burton and Wellesley, filed in the Eastern District of New York in 2022, alleges the two men raised $99.4 million from over 140 investors, 71 of whom were based in the U.S., and lost a collective $25 million. Prosecutors say Bordeaux Cellars, by and large, never had the wine it claimed to hold as collateral, and many of the specific bottles listed in loan documents were never in its custody.
Charges include one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, each man faces up to 20 years in prison.
“Unlike the fine wine they purported to possess,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said while announcing the charges in 2022, “the defendants’ repeated lies to investors did not age well.”
Burton, who claimed to be a Stanford Business School graduate, was the alleged brainchild behind Bordeaux Cellars and founded the company in 2010. He positioned his business as a unique solution for wealthy wine collectors who needed liquidity. The company, according to prosecutors, purported to broker short-term loans secured by high-end bottles of wine—think Château Lafleur and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti—with promised investor yields of up to 12%.
For a while, the illusion held. Investors, for the most part, received interest payments and quarterly updates. Burton, with his suave wine knowledge and globe-trotting persona, mingled with the elite of wine circles in London, New York, and Hong Kong, according to reporting by The Times. Wellesley, the operational anchor of the company and chief financial officer, ran the books, taking a three-year hiatus from 2013 to 2016 to serve prison time for a separate $7.7 million fraud involving luxury real estate. Wellesley also faced legal troubles in the 1990s, costing him his legal license, after allegedly embezzling more than $100,000 from clients.
By early 2019, Burton and Wellesley’s scheme began to collapse, legal documents stipulate, when interest payments allegedly stopped and calls to Bordeaux Cellars’ London office went unanswered. One investor who had wired $200,000 discovered the “collateral” wines didn’t exist. According to prosecutors, the entire operation was little more than a Ponzi scheme.
Burton was ultimately arrested in England on Valentine’s Day 2019. With him, authorities found two fake passports, gold bars, expensive watches, and around $1 million in various currencies. British courts charged him with money laundering and possession of false documents, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison. But Burton was then released during the summer of 2020, after which he left the U.K. while U.S. authorities began digging into Bordeaux Cellars. In 2022, Burton was detained on an FBI arrest warrant in Morocco after trying to enter the country with a fake Zimbabwean passport.
Wellesley was arrested in 2022 and held in an U.K. prison for several years before being extradited to New York on July 11. Whether or not his codependent’s change of plea will impact the future of Wellesley’s fate in the upcoming train remains unknown. A trial date has yet to be set. Lawyers for both Wellesley and Burton did not immediately respond to a Fortune request for comment.