Culture / Auctions

Christie’s sued in counterfeit wine case

A Palm Beach billionaire has uncorked a suit charging Christie’s auction house is in cahoots with counterfeit wine sellers. William Koch is still steaming about four bottles of wine supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson that he bought for more than $300,000, which allegedly turned out to be fakes. He’s already sued the seller – and […]

Apr 01, 2010 | By Anakin

A Palm Beach billionaire has uncorked a suit charging Christie’s auction house is in cahoots with counterfeit wine sellers.

William Koch is still steaming about four bottles of wine supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson that he bought for more than $300,000, which allegedly turned out to be fakes.

He’s already sued the seller – and now he’s trained his sights on the auction house, claiming it knew the Bordeaux was bogus.

“The simple, straightforward solution to this problem was for Christie’s to recognize its wine department was acting as an independent, rogue division, admit it and clean it up immediately,” Koch said yesterday.

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The suit is the latest in a string filed by Koch over the collection, now regarded by some experts to have been counterfeit.

Read more: Nydailynews


 
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