Jail for cold-caller who scammed elderly wine investors – Jonothan Piper gets just desserts

Insolvency Service press release (30th September 2016): 

Jonothan Piper, from Wanstead, has been sentenced to five and a half years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count of fraudulent trading, two counts of money laundering and one count of cheating HM Revenue and Customs of tax at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 22 August 2016.

Piper, 30, who was the director of Embassy Wine (UK) Limited and previously traded as a land and diamonds salesman, pleaded guilty to defrauding investors out of hundreds of thousands of pounds and to failing to pay tax and National Insurance on his earnings for six years.

Investors complained that they had been mis-sold expensive wine collections and had either not received the wine they were promised or were deceived in respect of the expected returns. Many investors were then persuaded to sell their wine collections to Piper’s company, but did not receive the promised payment. An investigation by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) found that the self-professed fine-wine broker had not traded legitimately at all and had set up the company simply to con investors out of approximately £300,000.

BEIS discovered that HMRC was also conducting an investigation into Piper, and the matter was jointly prosecuted with the CPS. Piper also pocketed more than £51,000 in Income Tax and National Insurance contributions from his undeclared earnings, between 2008 and 2014.

Deputy Chief Investigation Officer Ian West from BEIS said:

Mr Piper cynically attempted to dissolve his company Embassy Wine (UK) Limited without notifying his creditors of his intention or complying with the three month trading restriction prior to any application for the striking off/dissolution of a company, to mask his fraudulent activity. It was established that he had defrauded his companies’ unsuspecting clients of in excess of £295,000 in a wine investment scam carried out, in conjunction with other frauds against the revenue to fund his expensive lifestyle. He now has to face the serious consequences of his criminal lifestyle.

This case should serve as a warning to those that seek to utilise the Insolvency regime to further fraudulent activity, that the BEIS Criminal Enforcement Directorate, will with law enforcement partners, ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted with the full force of the law.

Notes to editors

Jonothan Jeremiah Piper - date of birth 8 April 1986 - of Foxglove Gardens, Wanstead, pleaded guilty to: Acting with intent to prejudice or defraud HM Revenue and Customs, Fraudulent Trading, contrary to section 993(1) of the Companies Act 2006, Converting Criminal Property, contrary to section 327(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000 and Converting Criminal Property, contrary to section 327(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000, at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 22 August 2016.

He was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment for defrauding HMRC and 3.5 years’ consecutive imprisonment for the fraudulent trading offence. He was sentenced to 15 months’ concurrent imprisonment for the two counts of money laundering.

On 17 November 2015 Mr Piper was disqualified as a director for 11 years.

Wine investment Embassy Wine (UK) Ltd shut down in public interest

Embassy Wine (UK) Ltd, whose sole director was 28-year-old Jonothan (sic) Piper was compulsorily wounded up in the public interest on 3rd December 2014 on petition by the Insolvency Service. The Insolvency Service reported that Piper 'treated company bank accounts as effectively his own personal accounts'. I hope this means that The Insolvency Service will in time apply for Piper to be banned from serving as a UK company director.  

Press release from Insolvency Service:    

Embassy Wine (UK) Ltd, which claimed it was ‘a fine wine broker’, was wound up in the High Court on 3 December 2014, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Embassy Wine (UK) Ltd, incorporated in June 2011, claimed on its now defunct website, www.embassywineuk.com, that:

• It was an expert within the wine industry
• That investors could see 30% returns on individual bottles purchased
• The company offered a diverse portfolio of wines for purchase, storage and onward sale on behalf of its customers.

The court found that those claims were baseless, and that the company had failed to pay promised returns to customers who had paid the company directly for wine or who had transferred their wine portfolios to be managed and sold on by the company.

The company also took in substantial deposits from customers, on the false basis that those deposits were required to lodge wines in bonded warehouses or upfront fees in order to sell on wine portfolios. No deposits and no upfront fees had been returned to any known customers. In a number of instances customers, including a 94 year-old victim at the time of his dealings with the company, had paid over sums of over £30,000 to the company. 

The court found that the company had substantively been run for the benefit of its sole director, Jonothan (sic) Piper, who treated company bank accounts as effectively his own personal accounts. Mr Piper had no previous experience in the wine industry, having been a labourer. Mr Piper failed to provide any meaningful co-operation with the investigators, and was found to have lied to investigators in respect of a number of matters, including as to how many company bank accounts there had been.

Giving judgement, Registrar Jones stated that the grounds in the Secretary of State’s petition for seeking to wind up the company were fully justified, and on that basis the company was compulsorily wound up.

Notes to Editors

Embassy Wine (UK) Ltd, Co. registration number 07686061, was incorporated on 28 June 2011.

The petition to wind up the company was presented in the High Court on 3 October 2014 under the provisions of section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 following confidential enquiries by Company Investigations under section 447 of the Companies Act 1985, as amended.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS).