A British fraudster has confessed to his involvement in a bold £75 million scam where investors were assured significant profits on loans purportedly backed by rare vintage wines that did not actually exist.
James Wellesley has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in connection with the extensive global deception. The 59-year-old, also known as Andrew Fuller and Andrew Templar, entered his plea in a New York court before US District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn.
He now potentially faces a maximum of 12 and a half years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Additionally, he has agreed to surrender £745,000 and assets held in over two dozen bank accounts. Wellesley is currently detained at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre following unsuccessful attempts to halt his extradition from the UK.
His legal representative declined to provide a statement. Meanwhile, his co-accused, 61-year-old Stephen Burton from Britain, previously admitted guilt in July to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Wellesley, a disbarred British attorney, has accepted a £19.4 million forfeiture order and is also incarcerated in New York.
According to US prosecutors, the duo posed as executives of a fictitious company named Bordeaux Cellars to promote the fraudulent investment scheme from 2017 to 2019. They traversed the globe, from London to New York, presenting their fictitious venture at upscale investment conferences, persuading victims that their loans were backed by a premium collection of vintage wines.
The purported wine collection included renowned bottles such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, a Burgundy listed at £12,600 online, and Château Lafleur from Bordeaux, valued at £3,730 per bottle.
However, as per prosecutors, neither the collectors nor the wines were real.
Allegedly, Wellesley and Burton operated a Ponzi-style scheme, utilizing funds from new investors to provide phony “returns” to earlier ones, while pocketing millions for themselves.
Assistant FBI Director Christopher Raia previously stated: “James Wellesley and his business partner allegedly devised an intricate scheme to defraud investors of millions of dollars to finance their personal expenses.
“Their purported deception spanned years and continents.”
Homeland Security special agent Ricky Patel added: “James Wellesley and his co-conspirator are accused of orchestrating a nearly $100 million (£75 million) international fraud scheme that exploited unsuspecting individuals, including New Yorkers, for their own gain.
“As alleged, the defendants claimed Bordeaux Cellars possessed a high-value wine inventory and a clientele of ‘high-net-worth wine collectors’ – all while deceiving investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more.”
Patel cautioned that law enforcement will persist in pursuing global financial fraudsters, affirming: “HSI New York, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, will continue to adapt and combat global and domestic financial crimes wherever feasible.”
Burton was apprehended in Morocco in 2022 while attempting to enter the country with a counterfeit Zimbabwean passport and was subsequently extradited to the US in December 2023. Burton’s sentencing is set for January 6, 2026, and Wellesley’s sentencing is scheduled for February 3, according to court records.