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KWV in fake champagne scandal

06 Jun 1997 00:00 by: Staff Reporterfiled under: News

FRIDAY, 3.00M

KWV responded to the M&G report on Friday by saying the “unfounded allegations” are of a serious nature and potentially damaging to its goodwill and reputation. “Obviously KWV will have to consider its legal options with regard to this matter.”

“Similar allegations appeared in the local and international media as far back as five years ago and were extensively investigated by the SA police in Cape Town,” the wine co-operative said, adding it had given its full support and co-operation to the investigating team. Questions were answered and affidavits submitted. KWV said the attorney-general had decided not to institute any prosecution against anyone, including KWV, because of evidently unsubstantiated claims and allegations.

“This, however, appears to be part of a campaign to discredit KWV locally and internationally while it is in the process of conversion to a company and on the eve of important negotiations with Land and Agriculture Minister Derek Hanekom, which will affect the future of the total South African wine industry,” KWV said.

FRIDAY, 8.30AM

The national co-operative which controls South Africa’s wine industry, KWV, has been implicated in a major swindle involving the attempted sale of 240 000 bottles of bogus champagne into the international wine market.

The alleged fraud revolves around attempts to market two brands of fake champagne—“Paul Lambert” and “Charles Lemond”—in the early 1990s. It appears to tie in with other international scandals involving attempts to market fake versions of two of France’s most famous brands of champagne, Mot & Chandon and Dom Perignon.

Documents obtained by the M&G indicate the Paul Lambert and Charles Lemond “champagnes” were made with South African wines and bottled in South Africa with counterfeit labels complete with fake French coding. The Comit Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, the champagne regulatory body in France, has confirmed neither brand exists.

Senior officials with KWV International named by the documents as being involved in the operation—codenamed “Project Spark”—include Niel van Staden, currently divisional executive with responsibility for overseas markets, including the US; Dr Danie Retief, an executive director; and J “Kobus” van Niekerk, managing director. Van Niekerk was out of the country this week and not contactable. Retief and Van Staden emphatically denied any knowledge of the operation.