£52k of stolen wine seized in Edinburgh

Over £52,000 of stolen fine wine has been seized from an off-licence in Edinburgh after staff were caught selling it for just £6.99 a bottle.

Top Cellar in Leith, Edinburgh

According to the Edinburgh Evening News, Top Cellar in Leith had a haul of 1,500 bottles worth around £35 each.

The owners claim they did not know the cases had been stolen, nor did they realise the value of the wine, and so put them on sale for only £6.99.

A member of the public became suspicious of the unusually low price tag and reported the incident to the police, who raided the store and found the wines.

The stash included bottles of Grand Cru Chablis by Jean-Marc Brocard.

“They clearly didn’t know how valuable the wine was. Generally, if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is,” neighbouring independent wine merchant James Wrobe told the Edinburgh Evening News.

A police spokesman said: “Lothian and Borders Police and Trading Standards officers seized a large quantity of stolen wine from a licensed premises in the Leith area of Edinburgh during a joint agency investigation in April.

“Over 100 cases of wine, which had been stolen from a port in Dover, were seized and the premises is now subject of a report to the licensing board.”

A 41-year-old man and 32-year-old woman have been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with the inquiry.