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A British man has pleaded guilty in New York to involvement in an almost $100 million fraud DangerWhere victims invested in loans given to the fake rich Liquor collectors whose Liquor also did not exist.
James Wellesley, 59, pleaded guilty in the wiring case on Tuesday Danger Conspiracy before US District Judge Pamela Chen brooklynAccording to court records.
Wellesley, also known as Andrew Fuller, pleaded not guilty in July to three charges, including conspiracy.
After unsuccessfully fighting extradition from the United Kingdom, he is being held in prison at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
A lawyer for Wellesley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to his plea agreement, Wellesley faces 10 to 12½ years in prison under recommended federal guidelines.
He also agreed to forfeit more than $1 million in more than two dozen bank accounts.
Co-defendant Stephen Burton, 61, also British, pleaded guilty in July to racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, and agreed to a $26 million forfeiture order. He is also lodged in Brooklyn jail.
Prosecutors said Wellesley and Burton posed as executives at London and Hong Kong-registered Bordeaux Cellars.
They raised $99.4 million by promising debt investors that they would receive regular interest payments from “high net worth” wine collectors.
The defendants reportedly claimed that the loans were backed by an inventory of more than 25,000 bottles of wine, including from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy and Château Lafleur in Bordeaux.
Prosecutors said Bordeaux Cellars controlled very few bottles, and only 217, while the defendants used the loan proceeds to pay personal expenses and interest to some investors.
Prosecutors said the scheme ran from June 2017 to February 2019 and collapsed when interest payments stopped.
Court records show Burton’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2026, and Wellesley’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 3.