BJM Recovery Ltd

Documented Case

Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited

A UK fine wine investment firm took money from retail investors for wine it did not have. Creditors were owed in excess of £3m and the company was closed by the High Court.

Investment type
Fine wine investment portfolios
Documented investor losses
Creditors owed in excess of £3m
Date / period
Wound up 2015
Relevant organisation
High Court / Official Receiver
Nature of the matter
Insolvency — compulsory winding-up in the public interest
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The investment

Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited (company number 06701468) sold fine wine investment portfolios to UK retail investors, supported by high-profile promotional activity.

What investors were told

Investors were told the company held, or could obtain, the specific wine they had purchased and that it would appreciate in value over time.

What went wrong

Investigation established that the company had taken substantial sums from investors for wine to which it never had legitimate access. Solicitors acting for creditors described the arrangement as requiring serious investigation, and allegations that it resembled a Ponzi structure were widely reported.

Investor impact

Creditors were owed in excess of £3m according to the solicitors representing them in the winding-up petition.

Regulatory, insolvency and court action

The High Court in London made a compulsory winding-up order closing the company in the public interest, with the Official Receiver appointed as provisional liquidator ahead of the final order.

Current documented position

The company was wound up and the matter concluded. There is no public record of investors recovering the deficit.

Key Lesson

Wine investment is not a regulated activity. There is no Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, which makes verification of stock and title the investor's only real safeguard.

Source & Further Information

  • UK court closes wine investment firm with millions owed

    Decanter / Companies House (company 06701468) — published 27 May 2015

    View the official source

These case studies summarise matters recorded in public sources including FCA publications, Insolvency Service and Serious Fraud Office material on GOV.UK, court judgments and the Companies House register. They are provided for information only, are not legal advice, and do not describe work carried out by BJM Recovery Ltd for any client. Where an investigation or set of proceedings remains open, the position stated is the position recorded at the date of the cited source.

BJM Recovery Ltd

How We Approach Investment Loss Cases

Every investment recovery matter is assessed individually. The circumstances of the investment, the available evidence, the parties involved and the applicable recovery process will determine the appropriate course of action.

Our starting point in any matter is the documentation. We reconstruct the investment chronologically from agreements, payment records, statements, correspondence and marketing material, and we establish precisely which entities and individuals were involved at each stage, and in what capacity.

We then examine what is on the public record: the Companies House position, any insolvency appointments, regulatory publications, enforcement action and court proceedings. Public records frequently determine which routes remain open, whether that is a creditor claim in an insolvency, a claim against a regulated party in the advice or pension chain, participation in a distribution administered by a regulator, or civil proceedings.

Where a matter has been formally referred to us, we deal with the referring organisation directly and work within the process that applies to that referral.

If you have lost money through an investment that has failed, become insolvent or stopped communicating, we can review the information available and set out the position clearly.

Have you experienced something similar?

Investment losses can be complex and every situation is different. If you have lost money through an investment that has failed, become insolvent or stopped communicating, our team can assess the information available and discuss the potential next steps.

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