APW accused of scamming wine investor

London-based wine investment company APW, formerly Australian Portfolio Wines, has been accused of scamming a client by paying him a 75% loss on wines that should have been in profit.

The company, which offers advice to clients on purchasing wine that they can later sell on for profit, was criticised by This Is Money, a financial advice website run by the Daily Mail, for reportedly paying back £1,107 to an investor who paid out £4,703 on wines that they recommended.

According to the website, the collection of wines purchased by the unnamed client – which included bottles of Two Hands Ares Shiraz – were valued at over £5,000, meaning he should have received a £300 profit when he instructed APW to sell.

“The company replied with a bill for £163 for storage for the whole amount despite having already sold part of my holding, which had not been declared to me,” the client said.

“With storage charges, I would soon be owing money, so in 2013 I again requested that the entire holding be sold. In 2014, I wrote again and telephoned, but my calls were not returned.”

Damien Dawson, the company’s head of operations, told This Is Money that an email had been sent in 2012 requesting permission to pass the client’s details to an unnamed third party to sell on the collection of wine, but he claims he received no reply. An offer was then received in 2013 for the bottles of Two Hands Ares Shiraz.

Dawson is quoted as saying: “Although funds for the sale of [the client’s] wines have not been received, APW Asset Management is looking to send payment for the full balance to finalise his account.”

However, the only payment the client has so far received is a cheque for £1,107 – considerably less than the £5,000 valuation. Reportedly, the cheque was also returned unpaid. It took more than a month for APW to issue a good cheque, according to the site.

This Is Money also accuses several senior figures in the company of links to fraudulent schemes, and calls one Spencer Pibworth, apparently in charge of setting up the Australian arm of the company, a “professional wallet-thinner”.

The drinks business has requested a statement from APW, but one is yet to be received.