Wine investors have lost millions after Bordeaux Fine Wines went bust. The Insolvency Service has disqualified its director Kenneth Gundlach from promoting, managing or directing a limited company for the maximum possible period of 15 years.

Failure to purchase wine

The Service says that Gundlach failed to purchase at least £9.3 million of wine sold to investors.  Gundlach reportedly admitted failing to purchase and/or allocate at least 1,750 cases of wine to satisfy purchases made by its customers. According to the Insolvency Service, 'Mr Gundlach continued to market and sell wine to existing investors at a time when he knew or ought to have known that those investors had still not been allocated the cases of wine they had previously purchased from the company.'  In addition, his accounts suggest that the company sold wine to unwitting customers at mark-ups in excess of 300 per cent.

Dividends

Meanwhile Gundlach used dividends totalling more than £10 million to buy performance cars, race horses and private jet hire.The company has been wound up in the public interest.  The liquidator has received claims from investors and creditors totalling more than £57 million, which are yet to be adjudicated.The Telegraph reports that as many as 444 people are thought to have lost sums ranging from £20,000 to £2million, and that liquidator David Ingram of Grant Thornton has told victims: "Your names are likely to be on a 'mugs' list … you are likely to be targeted again."