A British fraudster has confessed to participating in a bold £75 million scam where investors were lured with promises of substantial profits on loans supposedly backed by rare vintage wines that did not actually exist.
James Wellesley, 59, acknowledged his involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy during a court appearance in New York. Also known as Andrew Fuller and Andrew Templar, Wellesley entered his guilty plea before US District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn.
He could face a maximum of 12 and a half years in prison based on federal sentencing guidelines. Additionally, he has agreed to forfeit £745,000 and assets held in over 25 bank accounts. Wellesley is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn following unsuccessful efforts to halt his extradition from the UK.
His attorney declined to provide a statement. Another British national, Stephen Burton, 61, who is a co-defendant, had previously pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Wellesley, a disbarred British attorney, consented to a £19.4 million forfeiture and is also incarcerated in New York.
According to US prosecutors, Wellesley and Burton masqueraded as executives from a fictitious company named Bordeaux Cellars to promote the fraudulent investment scheme from 2017 to 2019. They traversed various locations, including London and New York, to pitch their deceptive operation at upscale investment events, persuading victims that their loans were backed by a high-end collection of vintage wines.
The alleged wine collection included prestigious bottles such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, valued at £12,600, and Château Lafleur from Bordeaux, priced at £3,730 per bottle.
However, prosecutors revealed that neither the wine collectors nor the wines themselves were real. Instead, Wellesley and Burton purportedly orchestrated a Ponzi-style scam, using funds from new investors to provide fictitious “returns” to earlier investors while siphoning off millions for personal gain.
Assistant FBI Director Christopher Raia previously remarked, “James Wellesley and his business partner allegedly devised an intricate scheme to defraud investors out of millions of dollars to finance their personal expenditures. Their alleged deception spanned years and continents.”
Homeland Security special agent Ricky Patel stated, “James Wellesley and his co-conspirator stand accused of orchestrating an international fraud scheme worth nearly $100 million (£75 million) that exploited unsuspecting individuals, including New Yorkers, for their own enrichment.”
Patel emphasized that law enforcement agencies would persist in pursuing global financial fraudsters, asserting, “HSI New York, in collaboration with our enforcement partners, will remain vigilant in combating global and domestic financial crimes, regardless of the nature of the transnational criminal scheme.”
Burton was apprehended in Morocco in 2022 while attempting to enter the country using a forged Zimbabwean passport. He was later extradited to the US in December 2023. Court records indicate that Burton’s sentencing is set for January 6, 2026, while Wellesley’s sentencing is scheduled for February 3.