Campo quits to focus on clearing his name

Pancho Campo MW, the president of The Wine Academy of Spain, has resigned in order to focus on clearing his name in a legal battle with the authorities in Dubai.

Campo is determined to clear his name after a Spanish journalist happened upon an arrest warrant, or “location notice”, for him on the Interpol website.

According to the warrant, Campo was found guilty in absentia in June 2003 of breach of trust following a dispute with former business partner Jackie Wartanian, regarding a payment made to pop singer Enrique Iglesias.

The court gave Campo a one year custodial sentence followed by deportation, but Campo claims he knew nothing about the sentence until he read about it in a Dubai newspaper on 19 September.

Campo said he took the decision to step aside from his role at the Spanish Wine Academy – and from his position as director of next month’s Wine Future Rioja conference – to ensure no damage was done to the reputation of either organisation while he gets to the bottom of the charges.

A statement from The Wine Academy of Spain said: “Pancho justifies his decision because he wants to isolate the event from any outside situation that could interfere with the success of Wine Future Rioja `09.”

Kevin Zraly, the founder of the Windows of the World Wine School, has succeeded him as technical director of Wine Future Rioja.

The statement said: “The appointment of Zraly will allow Pancho Campo MW to focus on the defense of his interests and resolve the unjust judicial situation that he is facing.

“In this way Zraly will be able to take over the responsibilities of coordinating an event that so far has met all the expectations of the organisers, sponsors, and supporting organisations.”

Alan Lodge, 07.10.2009