Fraud on the vine

Grapes picked by harvesters await sorting and de-stemming. The latest wave of wine fraud comes as the industry faces a severe downturn, with climate change disrupting grape-growing conditions and consumers drinking less. — Violette Franchi/The New York Times

A BRITISH con man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on April 27 for swindling nearly US$100mil from more than 140 victims.

The financial asset he used to build his scheme? It wasn’t crypto or real estate. It was wine.