Counterfeit Bordeaux wines including top labels such as Petrus and Chateau Lafite Rothschild, valued at half a million yuan, have been uncovered by police in Beijing. This was disclosed by a Beijing district court as part of China’s National Intellectual Property Week to raise consumer awareness.
April 26 marks the 24th World Intellectual Property Day, and in China the week from April 20 to 26 is named as National Intellectual Property Week.
On April 26, the Tongzhou District People’s Court of Beijing disclosed five significant cases of intellectual property crimes adjudicated in 2023, including one involving the production of counterfeit wines that infringed upon the intellectual property rights of globally renowned vineyards. In this instance, the defendant, Qi Moudao, was convicted of bottling fake prestigious wines and sentenced to five years in prison.
Between March 2020 and November 2021, Qi collaborated with two other fraudsters Zhou Moubin and Qi Mouxi (a repeat offender who have been previously sentenced), to illegally bottle counterfeit wines of top Bordeaux wines including Petrus, and first growth Chateau Lafite Rothschild and wines bearing trademarked GI POMEROL in Beijing’s Tongzhou District.
During the raid, police confiscated 786 bottles of branded wine along with various wine packaging materials such as empty bottles, aluminium caps, labels and bottling machines.
Authenticity checks and price evaluations revealed that 33 bottles were labeled as Petrus, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, and Pomerol with an estimated market value exceeding RMB 370,000 (US$51,086). Additionally, authorities also found 29 bottles of 2017 ‘CARRUADES de LAFITE’, the second label of the paulliac first growth. The wines were bottled but not yet sealed, with market valuation at close to RMB 120, 000 (US$16,570).
The court ruled that Qi’s actions, in collaboration with others, constituted a particularly severe case of trademark infringement, meriting legal punishment. Consequently, the Tongzhou Court sentenced Qi to five years in prison and fined him RMB 250,000. Qi chose not to appeal the decision.
The cost of manufacturing counterfeit wine in this case was remarkably low. Nonetheless, the criminals targeted some of the highest-value wine brands and appellations in Bordeaux.
For instance, first growth Lafite’s retail price is around RMB 10,000 (US$1380) a bottle within mainland China, while Petrus sells for over RMB 50,000 (US$6905). Lafite’s second label, extremely popular at Chinese business banquets, is priced around RMB 3,000 a bottle. Therefore, the criminals could easily reap substantial profits by selling these counterfeit products at slightly reduced prices under the pretext of them being ‘smuggled goods’ or by mixing them with authentic ‘smuggled’ wines.
Source: https://vino-joy.com/2024/05/01/fraudster-sentenced-to-5-years-for-faking-petrus-lafite-in-beijing/
