An Italian wine consultant turned hoaxer sold the equivalent of 220,600 fake bottles of the coveted Tuscan Montalcino wine on the wholesale market from 2011 to 2013 before the police caught up with him.
Italy’s financial police seized plain wine worth an estimated €1 million, which the industry consultant had labelled and traded as Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino wine, according to a police statement. The hoax was discovered after a tip-off from the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, a body that oversees and protects the brand.
"The seized wine was still with the distributors, and no bottle was yet on the market," Luca Albertario, head of the financial police in Siena, Italy, said in a phone interview. "If sold as Montalcino on the market, the wine could have earned him about €5 million."
The consultant used his relationship with some producers to steal official seals and other documents certifying the authenticity of the wine as Montalcino, according to the statement. In reality, the wine sold was described by police as "common" and below the needed standards.
In addition to stealing seals, the consultant hacked into the region of Tuscany’s agriculture department, adding records that matched the wine’s fake documentation, making it more difficult for buyers to doubt the wine’s authenticity. His hacking went a step further when he accessed two producers’ home banking accounts, attempting to transfer about €350,000 to his own account, the police said.
Authorities seized over 160,000 litres (42,268 gallons) of wine and 2,350 stolen government seals, according to the statement. Albertario said the tip-off came after local winemakers became suspicious due to the excessive amount of Rosso and Brunello appearing on the market.
Brunello, one of Italy’s best-known and most expensive red wines, and the cheaper Rosso are made exclusively from Sangiovese grapes according to standards set in 1888. The Brunello is aged in oak casks for five years before it can be bottled. Some of the seized wine was undergoing aging in casks, with the unknowing producers convinced they would have a Brunello wine at the end of the period, police said.
The hoaxer is currently under investigation for crimes including fraud, hacking and theft. He has also been banned from residing in the Montalcino area, the police said.
Montalcino lies near Siena, and is some 70 miles (113 kilometres) south-west of Florence.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
