Whatever happened to that guy from Premier Cru?

[JimHow]

Did he end up getting sentenced?
Did the bankruptcy get discharged?
Did the wines get auctioned?

[AKR]

IIRC sentencing is sometime in December. Discussion was around 5-6 years or so.

Fox is in the "custody" of the US Marshals, who have somehow put him in a local jail until the sentencing. Those familiar with the criminal justice/corrections process on the WB board claim that awkward arrangement is a much lousier situation than being in direct custody.

Spectrum or someone paid 3mm or so for the remnant wines (trustee had bandied about 5-6mm numbers) and IIRC a very small percentage of people who had "segregated wine" (that as labeled with their name etc.) were able to pay a storage/shipping fee and get it released. I thought that fee was 20% of the market value.

Never heard anything about the IRS, but presumably they should have piled on too. But maybe there is nothing left on the carcass.

So far it looks like the many other handmaidens of his crimes are going to get away scot free.

Futures & Prearrivals suck.

[NoahR]

Having been alerted to what was going on by a number of wailing Cassandras on Wine-Berserkers, I was able to contact my VISA bank and get my entire short term loss to PC refunded. Was very very lucky and was able to get receipts and screenshots and email trails to document enough for the Bank. Had I gone in even a few weeks later to the bank, I would have gotten nothing back. Many others, especially those with a greater outlay over a greater number of years, were not so lucky.

Reports have surfaced on Fox's car collection, expensive "girlfriends" on the side, and some measures he took to try to insulate himself from personal asset claw backs while Rome was burning. Truly a douchenozzle.

It remains unclear to what extent his employees knew what was going on until close to the end. At that point the ones I Spoke to were friendly, instructed to obfuscate, and told me subtly that the wine was unlikely to ever show up. It was those emails that allowed me to get reimbursed by my bank.

[AKR]

When one looks at the lawsuits claims, its pretty apparent staff knew what was up, and actively abetted it, perhaps motivated by commissions, or benefits.

PC was one of the rare retailers who apparently covered full health care benefits for their staff. That's pretty astonishing in modern America, especially in retail.

Their long time staff was quitting in droves, and that should be a bad cue about any business, no matter what excuses people give.

[Michael-P]

X@!Z%!&!!!!!!!!