An employee of a well-known wine company was arrested on Friday, December 11, in a village in Alsace Bossue, Lower Rhine, after scamming several elderly people by passing off cheap wines as Grand Cru wines. The son of one of the octogenarians, a wine expert, noticed the problem and brought it to the attention of law enforcement, and the suspect was eventually arrested.
Image courtesy of: Wine Business Watch
In a village on the Lower Rhine, a man in his twenties is suspected of making ordinary or even cheap wines by making them and selling them as Grand Cru wines. His offers were sometimes as much as seven times the actual price of these wines, according to L"Alsace in France.
The suspect was arrested on Friday, December 11, at the home of an eighty-year-old client, and it was also the victim's son who discovered the true value of the wines claimed to be Grand Cru. According to colleagues at Le Monde West, the suspect works for a well-known French wine company and is therefore a professional in the industry.
In order to launch an arrest, the victim set up a trap by ordering twice over the phone and also notified the police. In the end the suspect reached an agreement for 750 euros for two cases of wine, which was far more than it was actually worth. The police could then simply wait for the suspected suspect at the home contacted by the woman and easily arrest him. Eventually, the young man from Upper Rhine was released from custody. According to local newspapers, he will soon be summoned to appear in court. In addition, local police are urging the public to remain vigilant about this type of direct marketer at the end of the year.
