There are new developments in a mystery that has Triad connections, and it involves thousands of dollars of stolen Napa Valley wine.
The Triad Business Journal reports two suspects have been accused of stealing expensive wine from the French Laundry restaurant in 2014 that surfaced in North Carolina.
“For more than a year, we had no idea," says Mark Sutter, editor of the Triad Business Journal who has been following the story. "We speculated that maybe a wealthy person in the Triad bought it to stock their own wine cellar, but it turns out that's not what has happened at all.”
He says some of the wine was sold to a local broker.
“They allegedly contacted a company here in the Triad, in High Point specifically, called Wine Liquidators that sells wine or re-sales wine online. In fact, they have an eBay website.”
According to Sutter, an attorney for Wine Liquidators says his client didn't know the wine was stolen and authorities were immediately notified when they found out through media reports.
The indictment for the $300-thousand caper came down last week. Two California men, Davis Kiryakoz and Alfred Georgis, are accused of the theft.
The Journal reports the indictment of Georgis and Kiryakoz indicates that Wine Liquidators bought wine from the two men multiple times in the nearly two years leading up to The French Laundry theft.
Sutter says the two suspects in the case are also accused of committing an earlier wine robbery a few months before at another site in California.
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