European wine fraud ring sold $16,000 counterfeit bottles

Six people were accused of operating a European wine fraud ring that sold fake French wine for up to $16,000 per bottle, police said.

Police in Italy searched 14 properties and seized a large amount of wine, bottles, and counterfeit stickers designed to emulate top French vineyards.

Among the seized items, machines used to recap wine bottles were also retrieved by authorities, according to a statement from Europol, the European law enforcement agency, which investigated the ring along with agents from the French Germaderie the Italian Carabinieri Corps, the Swiss Federal Police and Eurojust.

“The fake wine was forged in Italy, then delivered to an Italian airport and exported for sale at market value all over the world by honest wine traders,” according to a statement from Europol.

About $1.5 million dollars of electronic equipment and more than $100,000 in cash were also seized as part of the searches in Italy

French prosecutors said a 40-year-old Russian man was implicated in the latest investigation, CNN reported.

The same man had already been convicted in a different wine fraud case but with a different identity, according to CNN.

According to Europol, the techniques used by the most recent ring were similar to those used by a different group back in 2015, when an investigation uncovered another fraudulent wine ring.

French prosecutors said the network busted this week had managed to sell more than $2 million in wine before being caught. Moreover, a judge in the French city of Dijon indicted a French national on charges of fraud and money laundering.

The Russian national is set to appear in front of the same judge in Dijon, according to French prosecutors.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.