Fine wine scam funded lavish lifestyles (From Times Series)

Fine wine scam funded lavish lifestyles

11:30am Monday 18th July 2011 in Top Stories By Rachel Schraer

TWO men from Barnet have been jailed for a fine wine scam which conned buyers out of more than a million pounds.

Oseghale Hayble, 32, of Heritage Avenue in Colindale, and Benedict Moruthoane, 29, of Raleigh Drive in Barnet, along with Paul Craven, 39, of Woodside Court in Enfield, were found guilty of running fraudulent schemes offering people the chance to invest in En Primeur fine wines.

But instead of buying wine on behalf of the investors, the money was used to fund lavish lifestyles.

Craven set up Bordeaux Wine Trading Company Ltd based in Potters Bar. Between 2006 and 2008 the company was used to fleece investors of more than £1.25 million.

Craven was sentenced to six years in jail following his trial at St Albans Crown Court on July 14.

During an earlier trial, Moruthoane and Hayble were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud investors, having set up International Wine Commodities Ltd and committing the same En Primeur scam. The company received more than £800,000 from investors but did not use any of it to buy wine.

Detective Constable Peter Thody from the Economic Crime Unit said: “These men used this scam in order to live lavish lifestyles and relied on the fact that the investors would not expect to see the wine for some time.”

After police closed down the International Wine Commodities operation, Moruthoane went on to set up Templar Vintners Ltd and continued with the same scam. The company, which operated from offices in Central London was quickly shut down by police, but not before it had fleeced investors of over £50,000.

In January Moruthoane was jailed for seven and a half years. Hayble was sentenced on July 14 to five years in jail for his involvement.