ŞARAPTA SAHTECİLİK: RUDY KURNAIWAN Vakası

Don't worry when you hear fake wine. We will talk about counterfeiting in wines that have collection value, not counterfeiting in wines that we encounter in daily use. Of course, there may be corruption in recent vintages as well, but the wine counterfeiting we will describe here, goes back to much older vintages and describes the profiteering achieved through advanced fraudulent practices.

The 2000s are not that distant past. Among the most talked-about topics of that period were the shares of technology companies changing hands in the capital market for inconceivable amounts of money and the inconceivable fortunes gained. The ease with which some of this loose money can be spent on something as sophisticated as wine, creates a larger opportunity market than ever before.

The hero of the wine scam that we will summarize today is Rudy Kurnaiwan, who is of Indonesian origin. This Californian with slicked-back hair and a warm smile is thought to come from a wealthy family, hosts luxury events, and is a wine broker with competent wine knowledge who can distinguish different vintages. So much so that he achieved a sale of 24.7 million dollars at a wine auction held in New York in 2006, a success that will not be easily repeated.

In the wine world, wines that are a hundred years old and older now command prices in the thousands of dollars. Moreover, when it comes to wines with such high antique value, they are purchased to be preserved and opened on very special occasions rather than to be drunk and consumed. Moreover, it is very difficult to evaluate the taste and quality of such old harvests. Positioning himself in such a niche area, Rudy quickly realizes that there is a period of opportunity ahead of him and becomes one of the main actors of the game.

Initially, he focuses on certain regions and brands. His star shines brightly with the French wines of very special vintages presented by him. But human beings are greedy. The first person to notice that there are some inconsistencies among the wines sold by Kurnaiwan is Laurent Ponsot, head of Domaine Ponsot winery. Domaine Ponsot's Clos St Denis bottles sold by Rudy carry labels with vintages of 1945 and 1971, but the year the family started production was 1982. While the research triggered by this was progressing, Bill Koch, one of the American billionaires, noticed that there were fake bottles in his cellar, had private detectives investigate and took the case to court. Events develop one after another, and eventually Kurnaiwan's house is raided by the FBI in March 2012. During the raid, fake labels, bottles, corks, in short, everything needed to produce fake wine, are seized and confiscated.

Long story short, Rudy Kurnaiwan is convicted of wine counterfeiting and sentenced to 10 years in prison. After being released from prison in 2020, he is deported and sent to his country. Almost everyone agrees that Rudy Kurnaiwan is not the only name in the dark world of wine. But someone else who is so bold and so competent in hiding his tracks has not yet been discovered.