July 1, 2016 – The New South Wales Police Force’s Fraud and Cybercrime Squad is appealing to the public as they search for a missing collection of wines worth $5 million. $5 million Australian is worth US$3,730,000.
The missing wines include large quantities of Australia’s most famous wine, Penfolds Grange, as well as highly collectible bottles of Henschke, Torbreck, and Chris Ringland/Three Rivers according to the Brisbane Times.
The wines came from dozens of private wine collections that had been stored by Wine Investment Services, a company owned by David James. Unfortunately for Mr. James and all the collectors whose wines he stored, his “empire” went south in 2013. Other assets were seized when his businesses failed, but not the wine collection.
Five million dollars in any currency is a lot of wine to move. No one seems to have a clue where it is but surely, eventually, some will turn up for sale. Imagine the wrath and heartbreak of the collectors whose wines are missing. This sort of thing seems to happen in the world of costly wine. Be careful whom you trust if you have a collection.
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