Red Wine, White Lies: Wine Fraudster Rudy Kurniawan

In the old Hans Christian Anderson tale of the Emperor’s New
Clothes, the emperor was the kind of clothes horse who’d make Anna
Wintour look like a frump in a burlap sack. This guy was all about
the fashion, and the more extravagant the better. So one day, a
couple of con men came blazin’ into town, pretending to be the best
tailors in the biz. They swept into the emperor’s castle, bragging
about the spectacular wardrobe they could make for him…for the
right price. And it got even better than that. These tailors had
magic powers. They could create a fabric that could only be seen by
those who are good enough, smart enough, and powerful enough. Well
of course our boy and his ego couldn’t resist, and he set the two
“tailors” to work, creating the kind of threads that would blow the
roof off of any room he strutted into. Of course the tailors
weren’t tailors at all, and they had no magic powers. They just
wanted the cash…and the cache. So when the day of the big reveal
came along, they finessed it. Rolled in a fancy garment rack full
of empty hangers, and presented them as the finest wardrobe in the
land. When the emperor saw the empty rack, of course, his first
thought was…oh no…oh God…I can’t see it! I’m not good enough!
Presumably everybody else was thinking the same thing—oh no, why
can’t I see it? There was a moment of panicky silence. And then,
the emperor gasped the fakest gasp he’d ever gasped, and said “I
LOVE IT!” And later that day, the whole kingdom was treated to the
sight of their ruler, catwalking down the main street in the buff.
And everybody clapped, and everybody had something to say about how
beautiful the clothes were. Better that than admit ya got got. This
is one of those stories that never goes stale. We see it every day,
that essential human urge to save face, even at great personal
expense. Today we’ll tell you about a fraudster who knew this all
too well, and decided to try his hand at faking out one of the
wealthiest, most discerning crowds in the world: the wine
snobs.

Sources:
2016 Documentary "Sour Grapes" by Jerry Rothwell, Reuben
Atlas
CNBC's "American Greed," episode "Vintage Wine Fraud"
The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/sep/11/the-great-wine-fraud-a-vintage-swindle


Follow us, campers!
Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an
extra episode a month, and a free sticker!):
https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire
Facebook: True Crime Campfire
Instagram:
https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079
Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire
Email: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.com

Become a supporter of this podcast:
https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support.