Koch to protest latest lawsuit defeat

US billionaire Bill Koch has had his latest case against Acker Merrall & Condit thrown out of court.

A judge in New York rejected Koch’s claim that the Manhattan based auctioneers had sold him wine knowing it was fake.

The Florida-based businessman filed the claim in April 2008. He said that having spent USD$77,925 (£39,242) on wine at an Acker Merrall auction, subsequent investigations apparently revealed that five bottles were, “counterfeit or likely counterfeit” and others needed “further research”.

However, the defence team pointed out the “Conditions of Sale/Purchaser’s Agreement” that is printed in every one of Acker Merrall & Condit’s auction catalogues, which states that the house: “Makes no express or implied representation, warranty, or guarantee regarding the origin, physical condition, quality, rarity, authenticity, value or estimated value of [the wine].”

Therefore, the defence maintained: “Prospective bidders must satisfy themselves by inspection or other means as to all considerations pertinent to any decision to place any bid.

“A reasonable consumer, alerted by these disclaimers, would not have relied, and thus would not have been misled, by the defendant’s alleged misrepresentations concerning the vintage and provenance of the wine it sells.”
    
Acker Merrall & Condit’s legal counsel, Stephan Meister, commented that having spent millions on wine at the auction house over the years and then millions more over two years only to announce that five bottles might be fake was, “hardly a case of consumer fraud”.

Brad Goldstein, director of corporate affairs for Koch’s Oxbow Group, said that they planned to appeal the decision.

“It’s reprehensible and we are challenging this. You shouldn’t be able to write any nonsense in the front of the catalogue and then a disclaimer in fine print in the back. The ruling is absurd and flies in the face of every consumer protection law.”

This is not the first case brought to court by Koch, nor the first to be thrown out or defeated.

Since he began his various lawsuits, auction houses claim they have redoubled their efforts to eliminate fraudulent bottles.

John Kapon, president of Acker Merrall & Condit said he and Koch were both “on the same side in this issue.”

Rupert Millar, 03.06.2010