Behind bars…

In 2014, Rudy Kurniawan was sentenced to 10 years in a Californian prison after defrauding wine collectors of up to $130 million in fraudulent sales. Rudy’s scheming and scamming took place over a 10-year period, however cracks started to show and the wool was eventually lifted from the wine market’s eyes.

Instrumental in helping the FBI bring Kurniawan down was wine fraud expert Maureen Downey. She began as a wine authenticator at three auction houses and formed her wine consulting firm Chai Consulting in 2005.

Over the past decade she has built an extensive database of photos and information about fakes and a gallery of authentic ones for comparison, including every vintage of Château Lafite Rothschild.

We are very privileged to welcome Maureen to 67 Pall Mall to introduce the first ever counterfeiting, wine fraud and wine authentication resource available in the world. If you are a serious collector and would like to educate yourself on what to look for and what to avoid, this three-hour masterclass from Maureen is a must.