Billionaire William “Bill” Koch’s “personal crusade” to rid the world of wine counterfeiters helped convict self-proclaimed Burgundy-expert Rudy Kurniawan, and now Koch wants a federal judge to throw the book at the notorious fraudster.
“This type of far-reaching fraud must be deterred,” the Florida fossil-fuel tycoon wrote to Manhattan federal Judge Richard Berman in advance of Kurniawan’s sentencing Thursday.
“The court and jury have shone a light on Mr. Kurniawan’s wrongdoing, and as a victim of his fraud, I respectfully urge you to impose upon Mr. Kurniawan as severe a sentence as you deem just,” Koch, 73, said.
Prosecutors want Kurniawan, the first person ever charged by the feds in a criminal case involving wine counterfeiting, sent away for 14 years.
Kurniawan’s lawyers have pleaded for a sentence of the two years he has served since his arrest.