Mr Lewis Samuels and Samuels & Parker Ltd – just the latest joker on the block!

Samuels & Parker say they are specialists in Bordeaux but their home page features a cropped version of a photo of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc vineyard – see here. 

'Formed by a group of experienced and successful wine traders, Samuels & Parker are providing an opportunity for our clients to gain a foothold in the thriving and prosperous fine wine market.'

'We are committed to ensuring our clients receive the best market knowledge and access to opportunities that have only been available to a select clique. It is our fundamental objective to ensure complete customer satisfaction with our range of services and products.

Our entire team are extremely experienced and have an exemplary depth of knowledge and performance within the fine wine market – many forming long term relationships with our clients.

 'At Samuels & Parker, we have built a business on the basis ....'

'At Samuels & Parker, we have built a business on the basis that many independent financial commentators believe fine wines deserve consideration as part of a comprehensive collecting strategy. A holding in fine wine is part of the diversity argument.'

The guff on the Samuels & Parker website sounds impressive! Even more impressive when you realise that the company wasn't formed until 9th September 2014. Its sole director is 27-year-old Lewis Samuels (DOB – 7.10.1987). Samuels is also the sole shareholder of Samuels & Parker Ltd with £100 of share capital. The company was initially registered at 16 Rayfield Close, Bromley BR2 8JT.   

The mention of Bromley and investment is so reassuring!!

On 18th November 2014 Samuels & Parker Ltd's registered office changed to 3 More London Place, London SE1 2RE. These are serviced offices and this is given as their trading address.

Addresses in Central London and Hong Kong 

– both serviced offices

Regus serviced office @3 More

Serviced offices at Level 10, Hong Kong

Lewis Samuels and Samuels & Parker Ltd appear to specialise in offering to sell wine for their clients – nothing wrong in that except there is a nasty catch. 

At the beginning of the year one client (AG) was persuaded to transfer some 36 cases of fine wine, worth some £80,000, that was in-bond to Lewis Samuels. Samuels told AG that he had a client in Hong Kong who wanted to buy the wines in time for the Chinese New Year. The wines went into Lewis Samuels' private account. Samuels & Parker Ltd does not have an account at this bond.

Once the wines were in Lewis Samuels' account they were immediately transferred to another UK bonded warehouse. Very soon AG had doubts and tried to get his wine back/get paid for it. Despite AG chasing for payment to date he hasn't received a penny. And the wine? He was told it was now in Hong Kong but – quelle surprise! – the Chinese client no longer wants the wine! Samuels & Parker Ltd could, however, told AG that they could fly his wine back from Hong Kong at a cost of £9200!

Clearly Lewis Samuels is both a joker and a chancer as it is highly unlikely that AG's wines ever left the UK. Their alleged journey to Hong Kong is as fictitious as the Chinese client.  

Curiously AG received a broking list from Samuels & Parker Ltd called: 'Samuels & Parker Ltd Wine Stock 2015'. However, it is Corney & Barrow's broking list. As agents for DRC and Pétrus among others, Corney & Barrow would have nothing to do with the likes of Mr Lewis Samuels. Doubtless another instance of Lewis' sense of humour!

'Samuels & Parker Wine Stock 2015'

actually no – Corney & Barrow's list!

         

You might wonder why it is Samuels & Parker. I assume that Lewis added the Parker name hoping for additional gravitas and credibility from the famous American wine critic – Robert Parker. The great man happens to be in London this week. Whether Robert will welcome any linking, however tenuous, with Lewis Samuels is quite another matter – highly unlikely I would have thought.... 

I understand that AG has reported Lewis Samuels and Samuels & Parker Ltd to Action Fraud. I hope the police can intervene before Lewis Samuels turns magician and makes AG's wines disappear.
 

Clearly Samuels & Parker Ltd is one to watch out for and, as far as I'm concerned, avoid. 

The moral of this story is clear – do your due diligence properly before transferring your wine portfolio into someone else's account.

Very good to see UK bonded warehouses cooperating here!

Update: 26th February 2016

Samuels & Parker Ltd was dissolved on 23rd February 2016 as its annual return was never filed. I understand that AG died in December 2015. He never received any money for his wine that he transferred. Furthermore in October 2015 he was persuaded to to send money, which I understand also disappeared without trace.

Vine Capital Ltd 'our vast experience' but selling very over-priced 2012 Bordeaux as an investment!

 'Vine Capital, fine wine specialists with years of experience etc.

 'Expert Advice'!!

 'Our vast experience in the wine trade has made us over 

the years the first point of contact for many wine collectors'

'As stock picking is a crucial aspect of building your portfolio,

it is vitally important to identify which wines to buy'

'our in depth knowledge of the market place'

Vine Capital Ltd and 31-year-old Ben Lancaster, their sole director and sole shareholder (100 £1 shares) claim vast experience. So why were they punting out a case (12 bottles) of 2012 Cheval Blanc at £7000 in mid-November as an 'investment' when Justerini & Brooks had this at £3,250?

Clearly Ben Lancaster and Vine Capital Ltd are vastly experienced at thinning investors' wallets!   

Vine Capital Ltd was formed on 2nd August 2010 and changed its name from Vine Investments Ltd to Vine Capital Ltd on 17.11.2010. Ben Lancaster (DOB: 18.7.1983) became the sole director on 1.9.2012. Since 14th March 2011 the company's registered address is 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London BW1 0SR. However, in October 2011 The Vine Capital Ltd placed an ad with Junior Broker for sales personnel to work in Bromley – London's capital of scams. 

Job location: Bromley

'At Vine Capital, we proudly take an active approach 

to research and analysis, offering a continually 

updated insight into the market and market forces... 

The future of the fine wine market is exciting and 

many industry experts are predicting an 

increase of 10% by December 2013 

and expect to see the market growing by 22% by Christmas 2014.' 

Reality check: on 30th June 2011 the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 stood at 365. By 31st December 2014 the indice had fallen to 239 – a fall of 35%. So much for Ben Lancaster and Vine Capital Ltd's approach to 'research & analysis'! 

I shall be avoiding Ben Lancaster's Vine Capital Ltd – thanks but no thanks!  

•••

Update: 30th May 2016Ben Lancaster resigned as a director on 24.9.2015. He was replaced by Timothy Paul Ashley on 23.9.2015 – DOB 8.1982. Accounts to 31.8.2014 show total assets less current liabilities at £8234 compared to £26,875 in 2013.

   

Kenneth Jean Pierre Gundlach (Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd): gets 15-year ban

Kenneth Gundlach gets 15-year directorship ban for wine investment scam  

Will criminal charges follow?

'Insolvency Service press release Bordeaux Fine Wine
20 February 2015

Fine wine scammer gets maximum disqualification

Kenneth Jean Pierre Gundlach, the director of Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited, a company which sold wine to members of the public, has been disqualified from promoting, managing or directing a limited company until 2030 for failing to purchase at least £9.3 million of wine sold to investors.

In the undertaking given to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, Mr Gundlach accepted that he had failed to purchase and/or allocate at least 1,750 cases of wine to satisfy purchases made by its customers. His disqualification is for 15 years, the maximum period available.

Investigators noted that Mr Gundlach had received dividends from the company totalling over £10 million and found that this was in excess of the value of the wine the company ought to have purchased for its customers

Commenting on this case Paul Titherington, Official Receiver in the Public Interest Unit, said:

“It was Mr Gundlach and his salesmen who benefited from this company rather than its honest investors.  He continued to sell wine when he knew he had failed to fulfil earlier sales. Anyone showing such blatant disregard for commercial morality should expect to be banned from running any limited company for a lengthy period time.”  

The disqualification follows investigation by the Public Interest Unit, a specialist team of the Insolvency Service. Mr Gundlach used the dividends he received from the company to fund his lifestyle which included payments for performance cars, race horses (including Bunbury Cup winner Field of Dream), private jet hire, and designer clothing and jewellery.  Mr Gundlach continued to market and sell wine to existing investors at a time when he knew or ought to have known that those investors had still not been allocated the cases of wine they had previously purchased from the Company. 

Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited was wound up in the public interest on 26th February 2014 following an earlier investigation by the Investigations and Enforcement Services division of the Insolvency Service.

The disqualification follows investigation by the Public Interest Unit, a specialist team of the Insolvency Service. Mr Gundlach used the dividends he received from the company to fund his lifestyle which included payments for performance cars, race horses (including Bunbury Cup winner Field of Dream), private jet hire, and designer clothing and jewellery.  Mr Gundlach continued to market and sell wine to existing investors at a time when he knew or ought to have known that those investors had still not been allocated the cases of wine they had previously purchased from the Company. 

Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited was wound up in the public interest on 26 February 2014 following an earlier investigation by the Investigations and Enforcement Services division of the Insolvency Service.

Commenting on the case, Vicky Bagnall, director of Investigations and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said:

“These excellent results show that where the public have been scammed we do not stop at winding the company up, we also pursue the individual directors to ensure that if they wish to trade again, they must do so at their own risk.”

  

Notes to Editors
Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd (“BFW”) was incorporated on 18 September 2008. Its trading address was at 3rd Floor, Lansdowne Road, Croydon CR9 2ER. 

The petition to wind up the company was presented by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovations and Skills in the public interest following an investigation conducted by Company Investigations (Live), another specialist unit within the Insolvency Service. The winding up order was made against BFW on 26 February 2014.

The liquidator has advised that he has received claims from investors and creditors totalling £57,697,885 (including a claim from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs of £15,875,210 ) which are yet to be adjudicated. 

On 30 January 2015, Kenneth Jean Pierre Gundlach (“Mr Gundlach”) signed a disqualification undertaking for a period of 15 years which means that he cannot promote, manage, or be a director of a limited company until 2030.  The period of disqualification will commence from 23 February 2015.  The misconduct Mr Gundlach admitted to was:

Mr Gundlach caused BFW to trade in a manner which lacked commercial probity in that he caused it to fail to purchase and/or allocate sufficient cases of wine to satisfy purchases made by its customers. In particular between 3 March 2009 and the cessation of trade BFW:

Sold 3,196 cases of wine totalling at least £19,264,388 to members of the public as an investment; and

Failed to supply 1,750 cases of wine to accounts at the bonded warehouse in the investor’s name totalling at least £9,393,373 whilst only having 780 cases stored in its bonded warehouse which were sold by the liquidator for £1,513,150 before costs;

In addition, Mr Gundlach:
Caused BFW to continue to market and sell wine to investors who either had no account at the LCB or when BFW had not transferred the previous purchase into the investor’s bonded warehouse account; and

Failed to monitor and review the position of BFW with respect to the correct allocation of an investor’s wine to a bonded warehouse in their name when he knew from 1 October 2010 that BFW had failed to supply wine, and continued to do so when he admits he was fully aware from May or June 2013.

5.      The result of which is that following the making of the winding-up Order, wine held in BFW’s bonded warehouse account could not be allocated to a particular investor.

6.      At a time when BFW was failing to purchase sufficient wine to satisfy investors purchases and failing to allocate wine to a particular investor’s bonded warehouse account, Mr Gundlach:
Received dividends totalling £10,680,516 as shown in accounts filed at Companies House; and
Appears to have used BFW’s account for his personal benefit

Selected transactions identified in the Company bank accounts and/or records show the following payments:

·        £626,148 to bloodstock companies probably for the purchase of race horses;

·        £553,803 for the purchase and running of motor vehicles;

·        £170,000 to a well known bespoke jeweller;

·        £141,589 for private jet hire and associated costs; and

·        £38,500 for an office Christmas party.

A disqualification has the effect that without the specific permission of the court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

·        Act as a director

·        Take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership

·        Act as an insolvency practitioner; or

·        Be a receiver of a company’s property

In addition many other restrictions are placed on disqualified directors by other regulations. Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions can be found at http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/insolvent-companies 

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit (South), The Insolvency Service, 2nd Floor, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 020 7637 6228  Email: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk    

David Ingram of Grant Thornton UK LLP was appointed as liquidator of the BFW on 14 March 2014 following a meeting of creditors. As part of Mr Ingram's duties as the liquidator, he is to realise assets for the benefit of the liquidation estate and will investigate the affairs of Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited and the conduct of Mr Gundlach in so far as it assists him in identifying and recovering assets. To date, Mr Ingram has realised the total sum of £1,423,132 for the liquidation estate and his investigations are ongoing.  Investors and creditors who have not submitted a claim in the proceedings should contact the liquidator’s office: matthew.d.vines@uk.gt.com