Con Artist Sentenced in $13M Whiskey Investment Scam

A British man was sentenced by an Ohio court for his involvement in a wine and whiskey scam, Decanter reported.

London native Casey Alexander, 27, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay back a combined $202,195.58 to his victims.

Alexander had been facing 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio confirmed that the FBI, through its investigation, discovered more than 150 U.S. victims had contributed over $13 million to the fraudulent scheme.

Alexander set up three individual companies—Windsor Jones, Charles Winn, and Vintage Whisky Casks [sic]–which he then used to obtain the phone numbers of elderly Americans, cold calling them and convincing victims to invest in the scam.

Alexander and his co-conspirators “used aggressive and deceptive tactics, and promised large returns if the victims participated in wine and whiskey investments,” the Attorney’s Office explained. “They told victims that they could buy a portfolio of fine wines and whiskeys on their behalf, and then hold the purchase in a bonded warehouse located in Europe until sold for a profit.”

Alexander encouraged the victims to wire money to one or more of Alexander's three companies, and were further encouraged to invest greater sums of cash to secure larger returns.

Ohio authorities were alerted to the scam back in 2020, when one of the victim’s sons called police in Highland Heights reporting that their parents had seemingly been scammed out of $300,000 in just 18 months. Investigators were then made aware of similar complaints across the country involving a wine and whiskey investment scheme.

When the FBI became involved, they set a trap for Alexander using another man who had been convicted in an unrelated fraud case. This person posed as an interested investor for Alexander’s companies, which netted them a meeting with one of Alexander’s employees. The employee informed the FBI that Alexander would soon be traveling to Ohio, where he was arrested on June 14, 2023.

Alexander was prosecuted under the Elder Initiative Justice Program, which aims to combat elder abuse, fraud, and neglect. Alexander’s sentencing came during Elder Abuse Awareness Month.