A British fraudster has confessed to his involvement in a bold £75 million scam where individuals were assured significant profits on loans supposedly backed by rare vintage wines that were non-existent.
James Wellesley, using aliases Andrew Fuller and Andrew Templar, admitted to wire fraud conspiracy in a New York court as part of the intricate global deception. The 59-year-old now faces a potential sentence of up to 12 and a half years under federal guidelines and has agreed to forfeit £745,000 along with funds in over two dozen bank accounts. Wellesley, a disbarred British attorney, is currently detained at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre after his unsuccessful attempt to halt extradition from the UK.
His attorney declined to provide any comments on the matter. Stephen Burton, a 61-year-old British national, also confessed in July to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
According to US prosecutors, Wellesley and Burton posed as executives of a fraudulent company named Bordeaux Cellars, through which they promoted the fraudulent investment scheme between 2017 and 2019. They traveled internationally, including stops in London and New York, pitching their fictitious scheme at prestigious investment conferences, persuading victims that their loans were secured by a high-end collection of vintage wines.
The fictitious wine selection supposedly included renowned bottles like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Château Lafleur, both with substantial market values. However, as per prosecutors, neither the collectors nor the wines were real.
Allegedly, Wellesley and Burton ran a Ponzi-style scam, diverting funds from new investors to provide phony “returns” to earlier investors while enriching themselves with millions of dollars.
Assistant FBI Director Christopher Raia stated that Wellesley and his partner devised an intricate scheme to defraud investors of millions to fund their personal expenses over an extended period and across multiple countries.
Homeland Security special agent Ricky Patel accused Wellesley and Burton of orchestrating a nearly $100 million international fraud that exploited unsuspecting individuals, including New Yorkers. Patel emphasized that law enforcement agencies would persist in pursuing financial fraudsters globally to combat transnational criminal schemes.
Burton’s arrest in Morocco in 2022, using a counterfeit Zimbabwean passport, led to his extradition to the US in December 2023. Court records indicate that Burton’s sentencing is set for January 6, 2026, while Wellesley is scheduled for sentencing on February 3.
