DRC假酒门始作俑者被FBI在美国逮捕

　　Rudy Kurniawan于3月8日在洛杉矶被美国FBI以多项造假指控逮捕。

　　RudyKurniawan一直活跃于商贾巨富和葡萄酒收藏家的社交圈中。这位30出头的新富在2000年中在葡萄酒圈中横空出世，不断在各大拍卖上频频有大手笔行动，每月有近1百万美元的花销。作为葡萄酒收藏家，他对他的客户提供无条件退货的承诺，以此建立良好的声誉并吸引了很多重要的客户。在晚宴上，他也经常豪爽的为同桌的参与者买单。

　　他的藏品第一次出事是在2007年的旧金山佳士得拍卖，他准备拍卖的6瓶1982年Magnum Chateau LePin被印在拍卖目录的封面。不幸的是，酒庄的负责人一眼就认出是假货，经过佳士得重新查看之后确定是假酒，撤拍。最著名事件的应属2008年，他准备通过AckerMerrall拍卖行卖出一系列极其珍贵的，前所未见的Ponsot’s Clos St-Denis 1945, 1949, 1959,1962, 1966,1971以及产自酒庄的1929年份的葡萄酒。但问题是酒庄1934年才建立，1982年以后Ponsot才开始出产ClosSt-Denis。这种低级的造假很快被识破，酒庄立即叫停了拍卖。今年2月，由于酒标明显与原品不符，DRC英国代理商向Spectrum&Vanquish提出撤销此次对DRC几个稀少年份的拍卖。加州律师和葡萄酒收藏家DonCornwell在网站上也提出15项差异表示对这批拍品的质疑。这批酒也是源自这位Rudy Kurniawan。

　　层出不穷的假酒事件让人们对他的背景充满了好奇，很多客户也在质疑者巨额的财富和令人生畏的藏酒是如何同时被一位30出头的小伙子同时纳入囊中的。当被问及葡萄酒的来源时，他坚持说藏品均来自亚洲的联系人，还给了调查员两个电话号码。只不过一个是印度尼西亚航空的电话，一个是某超市的电话。不少报道中说他是长居美国的印度尼西亚人，不过因为假酒事件他惹火了著名收藏家WilliamKoch, 2009年William Koch对他提起诉讼并且进行深入调查。无论怎样，这位 RudyKurniawan纸醉金迷的奢华生活怕是要告以段落了。

　　附纽约时报的报道：

　　Renowned Wine Dealer Accused of Trying to Sell Counterfeits

　　By WILLIAMK. RASHBAUM and MATT FLEGENHEIMER

　　Rudy Kurniawan had ascended to the upper reaches of the wine worldon both coasts, renowned as much for his palate as for his eye,fixed often on the highest of high-end bottles。

　　His presence at auctions was constant, at events in BeverlyHills, and offerings at Sotheby’s in New York. His interest byitself was enough to drive prices at the top of the market。

　　And as his collection brought in millions, Mr. Kurniawan made ashow of his own authenticity, offering major buyers anunconditional return policy — exceedingly rare in the industry —while attracting a clientele that included the billionaire WilliamI. Koch。

　　But on Thursday, in the culmination of persistent rumblingsabout the veracity of his products, Mr. Kurniawan was arrested inLos Angeles by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges thathe had tried to sell counterfeit wine that, if genuine, would havebeen worth $1.3 million。

　　Mr. Kurniawan, who sold $35 million worth of wine in 2006 alone,was taken into custody in Los Angeles on mail and wire fraudcharges filed in federal court in New York, according to courtpapers. Prosecutors from the office of the United States attorneyin Manhattan said they expected him to be transferred to New Yorkin the coming days。

　　The criminal complaint in the case said that in 2008, Mr.Kurniawan consigned for auction at least 84 bottles of counterfeitwine purporting to be from Domaine Ponsot in Burgundy, France,which were expected to sell for approximately $600,000. Although herepresented the wine as authentic, it was not, prosecutorssaid。

　　He was also charged with trying to sell a single bottle that heclaimed was a 1929 Domaine Ponsot. That was not possible, accordingto the complaint, because Domaine Ponsot did not begin estatebottling until 1934.

　　Mr. Kurniawan, 35, of Arcadia, Calif., was also charged withfraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in loans to finance whatprosecutors called his “high-end lifestyle。”

　　Mr. Kurniawan was arrested by agents from an elite squad basedin New York that focuses on crimes involving art, antiques andother collectibles. At a hearing in United States District Court inLos Angeles on Thursday, prosecutors said a search of Mr.Kurniawan’s home had turned up materials used in the counterfeitingof wine bottles, according to a person briefed on theproceeding。

　　Mr. Kurniawan, according to the complaint, also consigned winethat had purportedly been bottled between 1945 and 1971 from theClos St.-Denis vineyard by Domaine Ponsot, even though the domainedid not make wine from that vineyard until 1982. The wines werelater withdrawn from the auction at the request of Domaine Ponsot’sadministrator。

　　When the administrator questioned Mr. Kurniawan about the sourceof the counterfeit wines, he maintained that he had obtained thebottles from a person in Asia and had given the administrator twotelephone numbers for that person, according to the complaint。

　　But neither number led to that person or anyone else who soldwine, the complaint said; one number was for a regional Indonesianairline and the other was for a shopping mall in Jakarta。

　　Mr. Kurniawan’s lawyer, Luis Li of Munger, Tolles& Olson LLP in Los Angeles, said he was evaluatingthe charges but declined to comment further. The arrest of Mr.Kurniawan, who is charged with three counts of wire fraud and threecounts of mail fraud, was announced in a news release issued by theoffice of the United States attorney in Manhattan. “The bad-faithsale of any commodity you know to be a counterfeit, fake or forgeryis a felony,” Janice K. Fedarcyk, the F.B.I.’s assistant directorin charge of the New York office, said in the news release。“Whether you are peddling a Picasso or a Petrus, a Botticelli or aBurgundy, unless it is what you say it is, the sale is afraud。”

　　Indeed, for years, restaurants and top cellars in New York andLos Angeles awaited the inevitable windfall that accompanied Mr.Kurniawan’s arrival, as he and guests laid waste to the mostexpensive bottles on the wine list。

　　“We knew of him,” said Tim Kopec, the former wine director atVeritas, “prior to him walking through the doors。”

　　In 2006, Mr. Kurniawan jarred industry observers by offeringbuyers a guarantee intended to protect against fraud. One formersommelier in Manhattan, who requested anonymity because he is namedin the complaint, recalled the ploy as “a real move ofbravado。”

　　“It was very unusual, the first time I’d ever seen it,” he said.But as Mr. Kurniawan’s profile grew, the sommelier added, questionswere raised about his collection’s contents. How did a man soyoung, some fellow collectors began to wonder, amass bottles sorare?

　　The grumblings crested in 2009, when Mr. Koch filed suit againstMr. Kurniawan, claiming he had been sold five counterfeit bottlesat the New York auction house Acker, Merrall, &Condit, according to news reports. Because of this recent history,arriving amid a spate of other industry allegations concerningcounterfeit sales, Mr. Kopec said the arrest was unlikely to rufflethe wine world significantly. “The industry is rife with boguswine, usually at the very, very highest level,” he said. “Thatwould be the most attractive segment if you were going to beunscrupulous。”

　　Mr. Kurniawan is an Indonesian citizen whose asylum applicationwas denied in 2001, when he was ordered to leave the United States,according to the criminal complaint, which was sworn out by F.B.I.Special Agent James P. Wynne, head of the Major Theft Squad。

　　Mr. Kurniawan, whom the complaint says is also known as Dr.Conti, appealed, but his appeal was denied and he was again orderedto leave the country. He did not comply, and since April 2003 hasbeen living in California, the complaint said。

　　United States Magistrate Judge Stephen J. Hillman initiallyordered Mr. Kurniawan released on a $175,000 bond, secured byproperty. But after prosecutors expressed their concern that hewould flee, the judge stayed his decision, and prosecutors havesaid they will appeal。

　　“Mr. Kurniawan’s days of wine and wealth are over, if theallegations in this case are proven,” the United States attorney,Preet Bharara said in the news release. “As alleged, Rudy Kurniawanheld himself out to be a wine aficionado with a nose for acounterfeit bottle, but he was the counterfeit, pawning offprodigious quantities of fraudulent wine himself to unsuspectingauction houses and collectors。”(来源：Sylvia的新浪博客)