A British man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in New York to participating in a nearly $100 million wine investment fraud that duped investors into funding loans to fictitious wealthy wine collectors whose valuable bottles never existed, U.S. prosecutors said.
James Wellesley, 59, also known as Andrew Fuller, admitted to one count of wire fraud conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn. He had previously pleaded not guilty to three charges, including conspiracy, after being extradited from the United Kingdom earlier this year.
According to court documents, Wellesley faces a potential sentence of 10 to 12½ years in prison under federal guidelines. He also agreed to forfeit $1 million and funds held in more than two dozen bank accounts.
Wellesley and his co-defendant, Stephen Burton, 61, also a British national, were accused of running a sophisticated scam through a company called Bordeaux Cellars, registered in London and Hong Kong.
Prosecutors said the pair raised $99.4 million by convincing investors to finance loans supposedly backed by inventories of fine wines owned by high-net-worth collectors.
In reality, prosecutors said, Bordeaux Cellars controlled far fewer bottles, perhaps as few as 217, instead of the 25,000 the defendants claimed, which allegedly included prestigious labels like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Château Lafleur.
The men used investor funds to cover personal expenses and to make interest payments to earlier investors in a Ponzi-like scheme.
The fraud ran from June 2017 to February 2019 before collapsing when interest payments stopped. Burton pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies and agreed to forfeit $26 million.
Burton is scheduled to be sentenced on January 6, 2026, while Wellesley’s sentencing is set for February 3, 2026. Both men remain in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
The case is U.S. v. Burton et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 22-cr-00079.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
