British man accused of swindling investors out of nearly £80 MILLION with fake luxury wine scheme pleads not guilty in US court

• Stephen Burton, 58, was arrested in 2022 after using a fake passport in Morocco
• He and another co-defender face charges of fraud and money laundering 

A British man accused of allegedly defrauding investors of nearly £80 million with a fake luxury wine scheme has pleaded not guilty in a US court. 

Stephen Burton, 58, was extradited on Friday to New York from Morocco, where he was arrested in 2022 after using a fake Zimbabwean passport to enter the country, authorities said. 

Federal prosecutors said that Burton, along with a co-defender James Wellesley, 56, ran Bordeaux Cellars, a company which they said brokered loans between investors and high-net-worth wine collectors.

Burton was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Saturday and pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. 

He has been detained without bail pending his next court hearing on January 22 and could face up to 20 years in prison for the charges. 

Stephen Burton, 58, is accused of allegedly defrauding investors of nearly £80 million with a fake luxury wine scheme

Burton was extradited on Friday to New York from Morocco, where he was arrested in 2022 after using a fake Zimbabwean passport to enter the country

Federal prosecutors said that Burton, along with a co-defender James Wellesley (pictured), 56, ran Bordeaux Cellars, a company which they said brokered loans between investors and high-net-worth wine collectors

Burton and Wellesley allegedly solicited just over £78 million ($99 million) from investors in New York and other areas from June 2017 to February 2019, approaching them at places including conferences in the United States and overseas.

The men told lenders that the loans would be backed by wine they stored for wealthy collectors and promised profits through interest payments, prosecutors alleged.

However, these collectors ‘did not actually exist and Bordeaux Cellars did not maintain custody of the wine purportedly securing the loans,’ the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement on Saturday.

Instead, officials said, Burton and Wellesley used loan money provided by investors for themselves and to make fraudulent interest payments to other investors.

‘With the successful extradition of Burton to the Eastern District of New York, he will now taste justice for the fine wines scheme alleged in the indictment,’ U.S. Attorney Breon Peacesaid in a statement. 

‘This prosecution sends a message to all perpetrators of global fraud that you can run from law enforcement, but not forever.’ 

Burton’s lawyer, John Wallenstein, said: ‘These are all allegations, and we will defend them vigorously. 

‘We´re going to wait for the discovery and examine the evidence very carefully.’ 

Wellesley is also a British citizen and is currently awaiting extradition in the United Kingdom. It was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer who could respond to the allegations.

If convicted, the defendants could each face up to 20 years in prison for charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

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