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 Federal prosecutors allege the total is more than $30 million worth of counterfeit bottles, but Kurniawan's legal team has raised questions about some of the authentication experts. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each count and possible fines. Kurniawan's defense team has requested the court to sentence their client to time already served since the time of his arrest in March 1, 2012 while federal prosecutors reportedly want a term of 14 years, along with a financial judgment of $20.7 million and $175,000 in fines. Kurniawan is expected to face deportation to his home country Indonesia after he finishes his sentence.
On July 9, Judge Berman had sent a memo to the prosecution asking for more details on the damage inflicted by Kurniawan. "The government is requested to furnish the court with details of all the victims in this case whether or not they are seeking restitution," Berman wrote. He asked for the names of all victims of Kurniawan's crimes, how they were victimized and how much money they lost.
According to Wine Spectator, the night before yesterday’s hearing, the Justice Department flew California-based wine authentication expert Maureen Downey to New York to hurriedly inspect one set of wines sold by Kurniawan tentatively valued at over $3 million. Her comment was that he had indeed made the counterfeit wines.
According to Wine-Searcher, Judge Richard Berman did approve a deal worked out between the prosecutors and the defense team that Kurniawan will forfeit $20 million. The funds will be used to make restitution to his victims.
Although Rudy Kurniawan is the only person arrested, some victims feel he was not alone in committing frauds. Two of his victims were in court for the sentencing, according to wine-searcher. Asked what punishment he would like Kurniawan to receive, Joseph Palmiotti, co-owner with Deb McCole of wine brokerage Mission Fine Wines said, "I want him to get enough time, so that he has time to rat out the other people who did this with him … He didn’t do this alone."
Meanwhile, Koch who had testified against Kurniawan in the federal trial has agreed to settle his pending civil suit in Los Angeles against him. Rudy has reportedly agreed to pay him $3 million and also agreed to meet with his representatives to answer questions about his counterfeiting activities.
Judge Berman set an August 4 date for a hearing to settle on the final totals and also to determine Kurniawan’s sentence.
For the previous related article in delWine, visit Kurniawan Fraud Case: It happens only in US of America
Tags: Rudy Kurniawan, Maureen Downey |