Rudy Kurniawan: Wine fraudster sentenced to 10 years in jail

Rudy Kurniawan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail and ordered to pay $20 million for his role in selling millions of dollars worth of fake wine.

The 37-year-old wine fraudster has also been ordered to pay $28.4 million in restitution to victims, who include billionaire William Koch.

Rudy Kurniawan is the first person ever to go to jail for selling fake wine in the US.

He was found guilty of mixing old wine with newer vintages in his kitchen.

Rudy Kurnaiwan then passed them off as even more expensive wines.

The scheme ran from 2004 to 2012, according to government prosecutors. In December, he was found guilty of committing wire and mail fraud.

As an Indonesian national, Rudy Kurniawan will be deported once his sentence is served. He has already spent two years in jail since being arrested in March of 2012.

An avid collector himself, Rudy Kurniawan was once considered one of the best aficionados in the world.

In 2006 alone, it was believed he sold up to 12,000 bottles at auction.

Authorities were said to have found thousands of labels for fine Burgundy and Bordeaux wine along with full, unlabelled bottles in Rudy Kurniawan’s home.

Prosecutors argued Rudy Kurniawan deserved a longer sentence because he flaunted his ill-gotten gains “with extravagant purchases of authentic wine, luxury cars, a Beverly Hills mansion, flights on private jets, designer watches and clothing, fine art and much more”.