FBI investigating complaints against Premier Cru

The FBI is investigating complaints against California wine merchant Premier Cru, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month with debts of over US$70m.

As reported by Wine Spectator, responsibility for customer complaints has been handed over to the FBI from the Alameda County District Attorney’s office. 

“We are taking complaints off of the DA’s hands. The FBI has multiple resources to handle complaints and information that we receive,” Michele Ernst, a spokesperson for the FBI’s San Francisco office, confirmed to WS.

A number of Premier Cru customers have filed lawsuits against the Berkeley-based company, having not received the fine wines that they paid for.

By the end of last year, a dozen lawsuits had been filed against the company including one from a credit card company that had to pay $228,500 in “chargeback” refunds to Premier Cru customers that never received their wines.

Among those owed money are venture capitalist Arthur Patterson of Accel Partners who is owed US$836,000 and Credit Suisse First Boston’s executive vice-chairman Adebayo Olungesi who is owed a further US$500,000.

Premier Cru filed for bankruptcy on 8 January with debts of nearly $70m and money owed to around 9,000 customers. Having filed for bankruptcy, the lawsuits have been put on hold.

A first meeting of creditors, attended by Premier Cru founders John Fox and Hector Ortega, is due to take place on 21 February.