California-based wine dealer and collector Rudy Kurniawan, who has bought and sold millions of dollars worth of wine annually, was arrested by the FBI at his southern California home last week and charged with five felony counts of wire and mail fraud. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
This may also be just the first arrest of many as Laurent Ponsot of Domaine Ponsot, who has worked for two years with the FBI on this case, told Wine Spectator he knows who Mr. Kurniawan’s accomplices may be.
For details, jump over to this Wine Spectator article.
