Wine Counterfeiter Rudy Kurniawan Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

[corkhead]

Source: Wine Spectator

Rudy Kurniawan, the first person to be tried and convicted in a U.S. federal court for counterfeiting wine, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison. Once dubbed Dr. Conti by his fellow collectors for his love of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, the 37-year-old Indonesian, dressed in prison blue and gray sweats, stood with his head bowed and hands clasped as U.S. District Judge Richard Berman pronounced the sentence. Berman also ordered Kurniawan to pay $28.4 million in restitution to seven of his victims and to forfeit $20 million in property.

Before passing sentence, Judge Berman, unimpressed by a letter of contrition sent to him by Kurniawan, said that the defendant "took no specific responsibility for the crimes he had committed." Berman also noted, alluding to the fake contents of the thousands of Kurniawan counterfeits, that "we need to know that our food and drink are safe and not some witches' brew."

Read more: http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/50301?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ShankenNewsDaily8-08-14%20%281%29

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Not sure if this is important enough to be LBN, but hey, I'm Corkhead.

I don't usually applaud crime, but when I do, I like it to have been done to a Koch Bro.

[Brother Buzz]

1. But, but, his victims were so wealthy their losses made no real dent in their fortunes

Wine Spectator comment section:

I wonder if "raisin" wine is in the near future for Rudy.

[corkhead]

13. vinified in a porcelain fermentation tank

[Brother Buzz]

15. No, no, that was then, this is now

I understand all federal joints have converted to stainless steel cooperage these days. You know what I mean, Vern?

[Orsino]

23. But a $20 million forfeiture sounds very convenient.

Ordinary Americans have to sue and try to collect.

Meanwhile the banksters, by and large, don't even get sued.

[valerief]

2. It's okay if you screw every 99%er on the planet, but heaven help you if you screw a single 1%er. nt

[The Second Stone]

29. Bingo millions of people lost their homes

nobody is in prison.

[markmyword]

3. Amazing!

It's amazing to me that Kurniawan, who cheated the WEALTHY top 1% and a KOCH brother, out of their money, has been swiftly prosecuted and put in prison for 10years. Yet all the millions of Americans cheated by Wall Street got a pass, in fact they got rewarded with BONUSES !!! Where's the jail time?????

[KansDem]

11. I noticed that, too...

Apparently, Mr. Kurniawan will fare well in prison.

[Cicada]

4. blind tests show cheap wine as dood as expensive

Seems a bit harsh since the entir "good wine" concept is a scientifically proven scam. The wine they got was as good as the wine they thought they were buying so where's the real harm?
I know - they bought wildly overpriced wine and only got other equally good tasting wine - so they were defrauded - but still seems a bit harsh to me.

[MADem]

16. I used to buy my wine by the litre in Italy.

BYOB, too!

Great stuff.

[packman]

5. That's why I stick to the better labeled wines -

Thunderbird, Boone's Farm, Night Train, Cisco, Wild Irish Rose ( the Ginseng brew is great) - fine stuff to make you forget all your woes.

[KansDem]

8. Hey, those are my favorites, too!

All mixed together in one glass with plenty of ice, of course...

[nilesobek]

6. This sentence is outrageous!

10 fricken years? He should have got probation for this trivial nonviolent crime. Thou shalt not partake of the king's meat!

[Auggie]

17. Indeed

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. agreed. 10 years for a non-violent crime that did not cause people to lose their homes is utter bull

[onehandle]

7. Nobody should pay more than $20 for a bottle of wine.

Last edited Fri Aug 8, 2014, 12:14 PM - Edit history (2)

Hell, 'Two-Buck Chuck' at Trader Joe's (now $2.99) is a decent table wine.

My favorite are French red Bordeauxs, of multiple labels, many less than $20.

[JackRiddler]

9. Insane

[frylock]

10. this is what happens when you fuck over the 1%..

when banksters fuck over the proles? meh.

[MicaelS]

12. I think wine snobs deserve what they get.

No tears shed here. Never been a wine or champagne drinker, myself, but those wines snobs are supposed to "know" their wines and yet they get screwed over.

[hughee99]

14. See, who says wealthy people don't go to jail.

This guy was a 1%er.

[corkhead]

18. only when you screw a bunch of .01%ers

[Historic NY]

19. He'll be cornering the market on the "Pruno.....

"a sassy little batch of 9 Day.".....

[C Moon]

20. The Koch's to me are sounding like a Mafia...

Now that they got what they want, Rudy better watch his back in prison.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. excessive punishment for what he did. nt

[Ash_F]

24. Wow ridiculous sentence.

Compare his crime to the damage done by other financial crooks, whose victims were robbed out of house and home.

This case needs to be held up as an example of unequal justice in America.

[LoisB]

25. So, we can expect this to be followed by the bankers going to prison?

[randys1]

26. And criminals responsible for theft of BILLIONS walk free

[SunSeeker]

27. Oh please, Judge Berman, this is not about making "our food and drink safe."

These 1%ers didn't buy the wine to drink it--they bought it as an investment, to hoard like everything else. Even if they did drink it, they wouldn't know the difference. There is no allegation this guy put anything other than regular wine in the bottles...the "witches' brew" us 99% drink.

[JoeyT]

28. How ridiculous.

Let this be a lesson to him. If you're going to swindle, don't do it to rich people.