ERIC GREENBERG Sold counterfeit wines. (Steven Hirsch)
RICH FINISH: Energy mogul Bill Koch (left) and lawyer John Hueston pose with counterfeit wine outside court yesterday after their big-bucks award. (
)
Billionaire wine lover Bill Koch uncorked a major courtroom victory yesterday — draining $12 million in punitive damages from a fellow oenophile who sold him 24 bottles of bogus Bordeaux.
Koch high-fived his lead lawyer after jurors in Manhattan federal court awarded him the amount from Eric Greenberg, who blinked in apparent disbelief before slumping back in his chair.
“Out of sight! Over the moon!” Koch said. “We weren’t even expecting any damages and we got $12 million. Unbelievable!”
Jury foreman Darrell Paul of The Bronx said the verdict reflected Greenberg’s failure to investigate the authenticity of the wines he sold even after learning there were fakes in his cellar.
“I personally felt there needs to be a message out there that says it’s not really cool to do business that way,” said Paul, 41, who works as a retail manager.
Outside the courthouse, Koch posed triumphantly with a magnum of counterfeit 1921 Chateau Petrus Pomerol he bought for $29,500 at a 2005 auction.
“There’s a huge code of silence in this industry, and my whole point is to shine a bright light on that,” Koch said.
“The perpetrators are now warned, and there are now serious consequences.”
Koch said he had no plans to ever taste the purported wine.
“Who knows what’s in it? There might be arsenic in it,” he said. “Or there might be hog piss. You don’t know.”
The 72-year-old energy magnate, brother of Tea Party backers David and Charles, embraced several jurors and gave them his business card. He said the verdict “compares favorably” with his win in the 1992 America’s Cup yacht race, a victory he likened to “10,000 orgasms.”
The verdict came a day after the jury found Greenberg liable for fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, deceptive business practices and false advertising.
The decision included $380,000 in compensatory damages for the money Koch spent on Greenberg’s phony wines.
Greenberg shook his head when asked to comment but in a prepared statement said, “I was also a victim of wine counterfeiters,” and vowed to appeal.
“The biggest disappointment for me is that as soon as I found out Mr. Koch had issues with some of the wine he had purchased, I offered a full refund of his money,” the statement said.
“This was information that we were not allowed to introduce to the jury.”
Koch has been on a legal crusade against counterfeit wine sellers since learning he was duped into paying $400,000 for four bottles that were purportedly owned by Thomas Jefferson.