Billionaire William Koch, who is already engaged in a lengthy pursuit of Hardy Rodenstock over the allegedly fake Thomas Jefferson bottles, filed an official complaint in Los Angeles yesterday against Rudy Kurniawan, the young Asian collector and entrepreneur profiled in That crazy, single-owner Acker sale and cited in detail in my recent article about Laurent Ponsot, Burgundy's Sherlock Holmes.
In his complaint for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and violation of California unfair competition law is the following arresting statement: 'Kurniawan admitted that the total debt that he owed Acker and the Acker clients as of November 2008 was a staggering $10.4 million.' It seems as though the New York auctioneer was a net lender to Rudy, billed as their most important source of fine wine lots.
Bill Koch is seen here with a tiny fraction of his art collection (photo courtesy of AP Images). Meanwhile the value of his wine collection presumably continues to plummet as increasing doubt is shed on its authenticity, not least by his own lawsuits.
Watch out for much more detail. Must fly...