BY GAVIN MACKINTOSH
An east London solicitor who laundered the £200,000 proceeds of a fine wine scam on wealthy and retired investors is facing jail. Michael Wilson, 44, set up Global Wine Investments Ltd in the City of London to attract orders for cases of high-value wine.
However, his company only spent a tenth of its income on stock,contrary to the image and claims they projected. Instead, the rest of the cash was squandered on wages, bonuses, luxuries and business costs.
Many of the victims never saw any wine at all, and others were fobbed off with lower-quality bottles when they complained.
The courts found him guilty of possession of criminal property, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the fraud charge with the prosecution deciding against a retrial.
The Old Bailey heard Wilson’s firm operated from St Mary Axe in the City of London between April 2011 and September 2012.
One of the victims of his disgraceful scam, David Scholey, told the court he contacted the firm in October 2011 after seeing a newspaper advert. Inspired by the sound of the scheme,he decided to invest £19,600 on two cases of Chateau Lafite 2008 and another £17,000 the following month.
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Scholey suspicions arose after asking to sell the original two cases, only to alarmingly discover that the London City Bond held no account in his name. Following repeated complaints, the GWI ordered cases of a different wine worth only £25,245, resulting in a loss of £11,355.
Shockingly, other victims never received any wine at all, rendering their thousands of pounds investments a complete waste. There was no compensation, even with all the deception that came to light.
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Angry Philip Tomkinson, who invested £42,500, but only received one case of wine worth £8,500, obtained a court winding up order. But those at the center of this embarrassing scam continued to pass the buck. Wilson, who was the sole signatory on the bank account, and also the director of GWI, blamed his team for failing to source the high-value wines promised. However, he conceded fault for failing to supervise his team properly, adding that it wasn’t ”intentional” or ”dishonest’, but that he was ashamed at how badly he had managed his company.
GWI amassed a whopping £631,261 in credits between July 2011 and September 2012, yet only a relatively small sum of £64,016 was spent on wine and £100,000 on business costs.
Another £21,089 went on ‘lifestyle payments’, £93,000 was withdrawn in cash and £150,000 was paid to individuals including Wilson and his staff.
An exposed Wilson told the court, “I accept I was negligent. I accept I should have had more control over what the team was doing. “I hired them to do a job. I paid them to do a job – they were supposed to be ordering the wines- I accept I was negligent but it wasn’t my intention.”
In an attempt to implicate one of his team, Wilson told the court that one of his salesmen had previously been investigated for investment fraud. “I had a lot to lose, and you may ask yourselves why someone in my position would put themselves in this position. We don’t ask ourselves that question, Wilson. We know the answer. You thought you would get away with it.
He continued, ”I accept that I and the team let the investors down, a scared Wilson told the courts, in an attempt to escape imprisonment.
“It’s not a story I’m proud of. That’s all I can say to you at the moment.”
Wilson was convicted of possession of criminal property and will be sentenced on 27 May. The count of fraud will remain on file. However, this east London solicitor has ruined his career. He should have been preparing n intelligent defense for others, instead, his deceit, negligence, or whatever he wants to call it, has got him in trouble.
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