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Whisky investment fraud case heads to court

The founder of Australian distillery Nant Distilling appeared in court this week on charges of allegedly defrauding investors in a whisky investment scheme.

Whisky casks
An audit found 700 barrels of whisky had not been filled

Keith Batt, the founder of Nant Distilling, appeared via phone at Hobart Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 29 January, but did not enter a plea.

He has been charged with 736 alleged offences, including 622 counts of fraud, 66 counts of stealing, and 48 counts of dishonestly acquiring a financial advantage relating to the whisky scheme.

According to reports by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which had access to the court documents, the charges against Batt range from 2007 to 2016, and amount to AU$586,680 in alleged offences.

Allegedly, barrels of whisky were sold to investors after production at Nant Distillery in Bothwell, Tasmania. Nant promised to buy the barrels back from investors once matured.

These are the supposed barrels that were not filled with whisky.

According to the court documents reported by ABC, one alleged victim bought 13 barrels for AU$3,667 each.

The court documents listed 13 victims as part of the case, including 10 individuals, couples and families, one company, and two retirement funds.

Batt will appear in court again in May 2025.

In 2017, private equity group Australian Whisky Holdings discovered more than 700 whisky casks sold under Nant Distilling Company’s barrel investment scheme had never been filled and did not exist.

It followed news that the firm’s planned AU$3 million takeover of Tasmanian whisky producer Nant had been partially terminated.

The companies did not complete their Business Sale Agreement, meaning the private equity group would not manage the Nant Distillery on behalf of parent company The Nant Group.

Instead, Australian Whisky Holdings purchased the Nant Estate – the land on which the Nant Distillery stood – allowing the company to release products under the ‘Nant’ label and continue operating Nant’s barrel management and investment schemes.

Batt filed for bankruptcy in February 2017.

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