Wine Asset Ltd: I'd rather have the bubonic plague!

Personal opinion, of course, but I would avoid Wine Asset Ltd (The Wine Investments Specialists) like the plague. If they really had the expertise they claim and intended to offer clients a good deal they would not be selling a case of 1994 Château Barreau for 2,200€ or the 1994 Château de Fonbel for £2500 a case. 

Neither of these wines has any investment potential, especially at these prices and since 1994 is a mediocre vintage. Fonbel is a a Grand Cru Saint-Emilion and is owned by Alain Vauthier of Château Ausone. There is no current price for the 1994 – the last price listed on wine-searcher was in June 2009 when it was offered by Which Wine Web in Paris at £8.02 a bottle (£96.24 a case) without tax. Buying through Which Wine Web would have given a unfortunately gulled client of Wine Asset Ltd nearly 26 cases to just one that they actually bought from Wine Asset Ltd.

Wine Asset Ltd's address in the UK is Rivington House, 82 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3JF – a well known accommodation address. Wine Asset's FRench address is Rue Robert Caumont, 33049 Bordeaux – another well known accommodation address and where this gets really interesting as it is the same address as used by the pernicious Vintage Wines Ltd. Vintage Wines Ltd had a similar wine investment approach – selling doubtless perfectly decent Bordeaux wines at more than ten times their value.

Wine Asset Ltd claim to store wines for their customers at London City Bond. As of this afternoon Wine Asset Ltd appear to have no account at London City Bond. They also like to appear to be members of Liv-ex – a completely bogus claim as Jack Hibberd, Liv-ex's Head of Data & Research explains:"Despite appearances, they are not members of Liv-ex and they do not have permission to use our logo. In fact, the  Liv-ex trade ticker they are using is a fake – it is not a feed from us. The tell tale sign is the misspelling of “Chapella” Ausone. I have sent them a notice of copyright infringement."

Hibberd or anyone else wanting to contact Wine Asset Ltd's 'head office', they will have a long way to go – the company is registered in Belize. Like I said avoid Wine Asset Ltd like the plague!  

Please note that Wine Asset Ltd has no connection whatever with Wine Asset Managers LLP.

Also see warning here on This is Money by Tony Hetherington. 

  

       

Beaumont Vintners Ltd: Police advice – contact action fraud

Police advice is that anyone who has made an investment with Beaumont Vintners Ltd should make a referral to Action Fraud, who have been notified by the Police to expect more reports to follow. As they are reported the national fraud desk will start to assess the reports and make a decision about who it should be referred to for investigation if that is the decision they reach. If there is to be an investigation, Action Fraud will be able to assess which police force/agency will be best placed to investigate. So it is very important to file a report on Beaumont Vintners Ltd with Action Fraud rather than a police force.     

Concerned about your wine investment? Offer of assistance by Grant Thornton UK

I'm happy to post the following message from Grant Thornton's UK LLP's FInD team to concerned wine investors:  

'If you have purchased wine and have concerns about the company that you purchased it from, Grant Thornton UK LLP's FInD team would be happy to assist you by undertaking preliminary enquiries into the company. They will consider whether the company is still trading and what steps are available to you to recover your wine or the money that you spent.

Please contact James Kehoe at Grant Thornton UK LLP on 0207 865 2165 or alternatively email him at james.kehoe@uk.gt.com. There will be no charge for this service.

FInD specialises in tracing and recovering assets. It is a national team of 95 professionals with a multi-jurisdictional reach through Grant Thornton International, which has member firms in all offshore financial centres. FInD has recovered assets from many jurisdictions for victims of investment scams, including off plan property developments, mortgage fraud and boiler room fraud, in the UK, Spain, Caribbean, USA, the Middle East and other overseas jurisdictions.

They have a proven track record and are currently running over 1,300 cases. They regularly work with investigating and prosecuting authorities including various police forces, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service.

For further information regarding Grant Thornton's insolvency investigation services please visit

http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/intermediaries/fraud_insolvency_division.aspx  

Beaumont Vintners Ltd: a class action?

I'm very happy to post this message from a client (HT) of Beaumont Vintners Ltd and have agreed to pass details of those interested in exploring this possibility. I can also pass on, if wished, clients' details to a lawyer who works with Grant Thornton. 

'Unfortunately I was one of those taken in by Beaumont Vintners and in particular Anthony Jones and as a result, stand to lose a considerable amount of money.

Having spoken with a close family friend who is a Partner in a City law firm, we are looking at the feasibility of taking legal action. Legal opinion, so far, is that the more people I can bring together, the much better prospect of success.

Jim Budd has told me that he has been contacted by a number of individuals who have also been affected by Beaumont’s disappearance and if they would like to make contact with me, via Jim, we can look to pool resources.

The earlier you can make contact with me, the earlier we can get the wheels in motion.

I very much look forward to hearing from you.'

I wouldn't buy from Alexander Barclay Wines Ltd

Lafite: cases of 2004 and 2005 ordered from Beaumont but have not been delivered

Beaumont Vintners Ltd disappears – Alexander Barclay Wines Ltd rises

A client of Beaumont Vintners thought he was making a smart investment buying a series of Lafite from 2004 through to 2007. Unfortunately the cases of the 2004 and 2005 never arrived at Lancashire EWGA bonded warehouse used by Beaumont Vintners Ltd.

It is now impossible to contact Beaumont Vintners Ltd, a wine investment company set up in June 2010 with a registered office in Fulham. EWGA Ltd has received a number of calls from concerned Beaumont clients, who have not received their wines.

30 year-old Samuel Philips is the sole director of Beaumont Vintners with an address in London SE18. Philips is also the sole director of another wine investment company – Alexander Barclay Ltd. Alexander Barclay Ltd was formed in August 2011 and its registered office is in London’s Knightsbridge.

Its website – http://alexanderbarclay.com – bears a startling resemblance to that of Beaumont Vintners. The introduction is identical:  ‘Alexander Barclay is formed by a group of experienced and successful businessmen and traders, Alexander Barclay’s are providing an opportunity for our clients to gain a foothold in the thriving and prosperous finer wine market.’

So similar are the two sites that Beaumont Vintners Ltd appears on the Alexander Barclay site: ‘Beaumont Vintners uses relative pricing, industry supplied information,…’ 

Alexander Barclay claim to store wine at EWGA Ltd. However, EWGA Ltd told Jim’s Loire that they have no account for Alexander Barclay Ltd, will not be opening one and have made a complaint to The Trading Standards Authority.