A former California wine buyer for a major supermarket chain was charged in Oakland federal court last month for allegedly accepting bribes worth upward of $85,000, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle (the Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms). The Newport Beach man and former Bay Area resident accepted lavish handbags, prepaid gift cards, vacations to Hawaii, golf trips to Pebble Beach and more for stocking certain wine brands over others, prosecutors allege.
The former wine buyer, a San Jose State graduate, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, aiding and abetting, and commercial bribery, according to a lawsuit filed on Sept. 23. Regulations administered by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, a subsidiary of the Treasury Department, prohibit parties within the alcohol industry from “engaging in certain marketing practices which threaten the independence of a trade buyer or unfairly advantages that industry member over their competitors,” the lawsuit says.
The bribes that the man allegedly accepted read like a laundry list of luxury. On trips to a resort in Maui, for example, the bribes also included massages and “thousands of dollars” in gift cards that were redeemable at the hotel, the lawsuit states. Other items included expensive watches and handbags, as well as $16,000 worth of prepaid Visa gift cards. The former wine buyer is also alleged to have accepted trips to exclusive golf clubs in Florida, Oregon and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. On at least one trip to Las Vegas, bribes allegedly included casino chips…