Billionaire Bill Koch has been awarded $12 million in damages by a US jury in his long-running legal battle over counterfeit vintage wine. The Florida businessman described the verdict as his happiest day since winning the America's Cup in 1992. 'Out of sight. Over the moon,' Koch said after the ruling in US District Court in Manhattan.
The jury found that businessman Eric Greenberg had defrauded Koch by selling him a fake bottle of Bordeaux, which was part of a larger scheme involving counterfeit wines labelled as being from 1864 to 1950. Greenberg, who made around $42 million from wine auctions over eight years, expressed disappointment, insisting he believed all the wine he consigned was authentic.
Koch's lawyer, John Hueston, suggested a criminal investigation into Greenberg is ongoing, stating, 'We're co-operating with the FBI.' The jury initially awarded Koch $380,000 in compensatory damages before returning a punitive damages verdict of $12 million. Greenberg, a former billionaire whose net worth reportedly fell by 90% after the dot-com crash, testified that both he and Koch had lost millions due to counterfeit wine.
Koch plans to use the award to fund his crusade against wine fraud, including creating a website to highlight fake wines and their sellers. He has identified 421 counterfeit bottles in his own collection, purchased for $4.4 million. 'I'm sad at the amount of fakes,' he said. 'That's why I stopped buying very old wines.'
