Wine investment scammer jailed for three years

Michael Wilson, 44, set up Global Wine Investments Ltd at plush offices in the City of London to attract orders for cases of high-value plonk.

The company raked in £360,716 from investors but spent only £60,000 of its income on wine.

The rest of the cash was frittered away on wages, bonuses, luxuries and business costs.

Many of the victims never saw any wine at all and others were fobbed off with lesser-quality bottles when they complained.

Some were told they didn’t even have an account when they called to check on their investment.

Wilson was convicted of possession of £100,000 in criminal property but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the fraud charge.

The prosecution decided not to go for a retrial.

After his conviction, he said that a lot of the cash had been spent on his father’s medical bills in Jamaica.

Judge Nicolas Cooke QC said of the claim: “I find him consistently dishonest - if you’re going to tell lies you need a good memory and need to apply your mind to it.”

I find him consistently dishonest - if you’re going to tell lies you need a good memory and need to apply your mind to it. Judge Nicolas Cooke QC

Wilson and his family have paid back £46,000 since the trial and are making arrangements to pay back the remaining £54,000.

Jailing him for three years, Judge Nicolas Cooke QC said: “You were responsible for a very considerable amount of loss to persons who in some cases could not afford to lose the money they lost - that’s a serious matter.

“The jury found that the money you directed away was so that the persons who put it into the business would not have seen it again.

“I regret the damage that this is going to cause to members of your family - families always suffer when a person goes wrong as you have gone wrong.

“However I have to deter people from committing offences.”

Wilson was barred from holding a post as a company director for seven years.

The Old Bailey heard Global Wine Investments operated from fancy offices at 70 St Mary Axe in the City of London between April 2011 and September 2012.

One of the victims, David Scholey, said he contacted the firm in October 2011 after seeing a newspaper advert.

He decided to invest £19,600 on two cases of Chateau Lafite 2008 and another £17,000 the following month.

He became suspicious after asking to sell the original two cases and the London City Bond confirmed that they held no account in his name.

After repeatedly complaining, GWI ordered cases of a different wine worth only £25,245 - resulting in a loss of £11,355.

Other victims never received any wine at all despite investing thousands of pounds.

Philip Tomkinson, who invested £42,500 but only received one case of wine worth £8,500, was so disgruntled he obtained a court winding up order.

Wilson - the sole signatory to the company bank account - blamed his team of salesman and claimed he was negligent rather than dishonest.

The account for GWI revealed £631,261 in credits between July 2011 and September 2012 but only £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.

He accepted it was his fault for not supervising them properly and said he was ashamed at how badly he had managed his company.

Wilson said: “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.”

He told jurors 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 - I accept that I and the team let the investors down.

“It’s not a story I’m proud of. That’s all I can say to you at the moment.”

Wilson, of Perth Road, Leyton, east London, was convicted of possession of criminal property. The count of fraud was left to remain on file.