Food & Drinks
UK Man Gets 10 Years in Prison for $97 Million Wine Loan Scam
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesA British man was sentenced in Brooklyn, New York, to 10 years in prison for swindling investors out of $97 million tied to a collection of extremely rare and valuable wines that didn’t exist.
James Wellesley, 59, was sentenced Monday for what US District Judge Pamela Chen called a “brazen crime.” He pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The prison term was less than the 12 1/2 years requested by federal prosecutors.