Vodka fraudster faces 25-year jail term

A US lawyer is facing up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in a lawsuit over vodka investment fraud.

A lawyer has pleaded guilty in a court case relating to US$1.6 million vodka investment fraud scheme

The Washington Post reports that Dallas-based attorney Andrew Lee Siegel, 54, pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

He was investigated for a US$1.6 million vodka investment scam. Investigators claim Siegel secured the funds from nearly 30 investors in 2010 to establish vodka production and bottling companies, but kept some of the cash for his personal use.

Authorities also claim that Siegel sent fake emails using copyrighted logos from the Northern Trust Company and Federal Reserve Bank to cover up his tracks.

Siegel is free on bond until sentence is passed later this year.

In October last year, UK officers arrested three people on suspicion of tax evasion linked with an £80 million alcohol fraud scheme.