Whisky counterfeiter goes on the lam

A man accused of counterfeiting a large number of bottles has reportedly gone on the run while on bail.

The individual was arrested in February last year after online spirits auctioneer, Whisky.Auction, uncovered what it termed a “large scale” counterfeiting operation involving “hundreds” of bottles of whisky, rum and other spirits.

As reported by The Spirits Business, the man has skipped bail and is currently on the run although Whisky.Auction’s director, Isabel Graham-Yooll, said that the police were continuing to investigate and she was “pretty confident” the case would eventually go to court.

The fraud was apparently discovered when Whisky.Auction was invited to view the man’s collection at his home with a view to having it consigned to sale. Once there, however, as well as a genuine collection the team noticed a very large collection of empty bottles of valuable spirits that seemed as though they were being refilled and sealed.

Their suspicions aroused, the team conducted their own operation before taking to their findings to the Metropolitan Police who then effected an arrest.