Wine fraudsters stole £6m from confused pensioners
Investors were told the company did not make money unless the wine was sold at a profit.
The company was founded by Cazaly in 2008 under the name Imperial Wines of London.It claimed to be a family-run investment house with international offices in Paris and Hong Kong.In reality, it was a call centre in an office building in Groveland Court, London, which was raided by trading standards in November 2018.The mantra "no means yes" was written on the wall, and they used films such as The Wolf of Wall Street to learn manipulation tricks.Cold callers using fake names followed scripts to persuade pensioners to hand over their money; these were found when the office was raided.Victims were sent glossy brochures that used logos from the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times without permission.Hertfordshire Council said the jury was played a recording where a confused woman was asked for payment card details despite not knowing what a card was or who she banked with.
Trish Burls from National Trading Standards said: "Victims in this case lost thousands of pounds through a co-ordinated scam of lies, deceit and manipulation. "The criminals exploited people's passion and enthusiasm, preying on them to invest while stripping many of their life savings and causing significant emotional distress.Ajanta Hilton, executive member for community safety at Hertfordshire County Council, added: "The stories of those targeted with this investment scam are devastating. "I'd like to thank them for their bravery in telling their stories so that these callous criminals could be brought to justice."
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