¡ñDay-to-day operations at affected wineries believed to be continuing and wines not involved
France¡¯s Central Office for the Repression of Major Financial Crime (OCRGDF) has frozen ownership of 10 vineyards and chateaux in Bordeaux, confirmed a spokesperson for Bordeaux¡¯s organised crime department (the DIJP, or Direction interr¨¦gionale de la police judiciaire).
It was understood that all estates belonged to China¡¯s Haichang Group, although the DIJP spokesperson would not confirm the names of the estates seized. The DIJP managed the investigation and seizure with the OCRGDF.
Day-to-day business at the properties has continued as normal and the wines themselves were not part of the investigation, the DIJP spokesperson said.
The seizures, which took place over the last six months, follow a four-year investigation in France into possible financial irregularities related to the funds used to buy the properties. The investigation into the source of the funds focused particularly on the misuse of public funds and money laundering.
The French police investigation was set to be examined by a judge and a decision on the future of the confiscated estates is expected to be made in the coming months.
Asked how the investigation began, the spokesperson said it followed reports of financial issues with Haichang Group in China. A report released in 2014 by China¡¯s National Audit Office (NAO) accused Haichang Holdings Ltd. (based in Dalian) of misspending $43 million in public funds. However, no formal charges were known to have been brought against the firm.
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