Mr. Hill, whose business was the subject of a lengthy profile in The New York Times last year, was arrested in Clovis, Calif., on Wednesday after the indictment by San Francisco grand jury in his case was unsealed. The indictment charged Mr. Hill, 38, with carrying out a scheme to defraud his customers by misrepresenting wine and grapes as Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon, when in fact the fruit came from other parts of California and was sometimes not even cabernet grapes. The grand jury charged Mr. Hill with four counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud. Federal alcohol regulators forced Mr. Hill to cede control of his business in April 2014 after an investigation into his activities. Hill Wine filed for bankruptcy soon after, owing more than $8 million to creditors.

Source: New York Times November 03, 2016 20:53 UTC