Herbal liqueur fraudster ordered to repay $80,000

A fraudster has been ordered to pay US$80,000 in compensation for swindling money for an investment scheme involving herbal liqueur brand Fuchen.

A 54-year-old man has been ordered to pay US$80,000 compensation after investors in his liquor company failed to see any returns

Peter Wilson, 54, asked family friends and a neighbour to invest money to help distribute Fuchen, marketed as the first premium handcrafted American herbal liqueur.

However, the concept did not reach the level of success it had anticipated and investors were left out of pocket.

WIlson pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of aggravated theft in June and was sentenced to five years probation in addition to the compensation.

“He took advantage of and mislead people that were close to him and he did that for his own personal and financial gain, so I hope over the next five years he takes the time to make it a priority to pay back these victims and make them whole,” prosecutor Jennifer O’Malley told Cleveland.

Wilson had been a majority shareholder of Red Tail Spirit LLC, which was striving to distribute herbal liqueur brand Fuchen in Ohio and throughout the rest of the US.

He persuaded investors that the spirit would be the next big thing and that they would get a 1% share in Red Tail Spirit LLC, which resulted in three people channelling US$30,000 into the business and a fourth handing over US$20,000.

O’Malley claimed Wilson put the money into his son’s bank account, which was then put towards his university fees, books, restaurants, bars and shopping.

Wilson’s solicitor, Jeffrey Shively, argued the issue was not that Wilson misused the investment funds but the fact Fuchen never took off as anticipated.

The brand was supposed to compete with Jägermeister and had it succeeded, the investors would be rich by now, he claimed.

A separate civil lawsuit means Wilson has already repaid one of the victims US$30,000.