Can Wine investment give you 18% gain in 6months? The Bottled Wealth (TBW) says they can wor.

Scam alert?

When I hear that kind of returns my antenna all shot up! If this was really achievable in a big scale, you will be able to double your money every 2 years. Or just put in $10k now and wait to collect a cool million dollars in 15 years. So it is a scam or a really good investment deal? Let’s explore more.

What I went through

They called my number and dangled a $100 Takashimaya voucher plus a bottle of wine to sit in a 60 mins presentation. Which such a good offer how not to resist? Especially if I like wine myself. So after work I went to their office at One Raffles Quay. Throughout the talk I kept asking about the investment amount and potential return but he refused to answer till he got to the end of the presentation. In the process he will ask what I invest in, what I like etc. Basically, to get more information out from me. That really frustrates me. Finally after about 60 mins he finally popped the investment offer. It was to buy S$5K of wine and will *try* to find a seller after 6 months with projection of 18% return. He says he if offering this “rare” opportunity to buy this good wine just to make investors comfortable dealing with them and the hope of more investment later. At this point of time, frankly I am very drawn to the deal. I mean 18% in 6 months lay.. where to find right?

But something is not right.  if it is such a good deal, why wouldn’t they keep the investment to themselves?

Really nice office at TBW

Sales tactics

They went through the typical pressure selling tactics by luring you in with really good free gifts and having smooth talking Caucasian salesman to get information out from you and offer a good offer you can’t refuse. There is nothing wrong with giving you a good offer. But in the last process, they never talk about the product in the offer much. In investment talk, we call it “underlying asset”. They are only focusing on top line numbers like how little you need to invest and how much profit you will get. Little was touch on the actual VALUE of the wine you are buying with the $5k.

Value of the wine offered

Later at home, I did a quick research of the wines they offered me. For $5K they offered me:

  • 42 bottles of 2009 Two Hands Coach house at $125/bot and
  • 6 bottles of 2005 Rof Binder Heinrisch at $150

From my search online, I found out the first bottle is only worth $116 and second bottle is only worth $40 at retail! This means they are selling my wines that are overpriced by ~20 to 60%! So is likely the way they can buy back from you and still give you 18% gain!  A classic example of overcharging upfront and selling investors the dream of a “high return” investment.

This overcharging tactics has been used in so many other similar grey investment. Like investment property that promises high rental yield and Gold investment that guaranteed 20%+ dividend.

So…

So next time you find yourself lured into really high return or high dividend investment, check very closely what is the value of the underlying product you are buying. Do a little homework to understand the business model and you should be able ride out any scam out there.

 

Extra reading: TBW: a Company with a history

They (TBW) said that they took over a scam related company called Australian Wine Index (AWI) and they are helping its old members sell their wines. They claimed that they are not obligated to help but want to do it to bring confidence to new investors.

From what I read, scam saga started in 2011 with AWI, which is really big and is not over yet!  The previous investors have tried all means like reporting police, calling head offices etc to get back the money but to no anvil. You can read about the many affected here. It is so sad and painful to read so many local investors affected and not able to do much about it. So do you really want to deal with a company that have that kind of history?

84 Comments

  1. Joanne on July 29, 2014 at 2:38 pm

    Hi Roland,

    Great one here! I’ve just received a call to attend the seminar too, same freebies offered for a sit-in, with emphasis on ‘no obligations’. Is that true…?

    • roland on July 29, 2014 at 10:52 pm

      Yes, there is no obligations. I got my Taka vouchers and free wine. BUT you have to sit through very smooth 60+mins presentation. 🙂

    • David on August 18, 2015 at 10:19 am

      I heard that the old owner of AWI is now the new owner of a company in HK called Art Futures Group ! They opened here last year then shut down very quickly!! Interesting

  2. Travis on July 31, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    Hi Roland,

    Thank you very much for your information! I also received the call and was wondering what’s the catch.

    Thanks and regards,

    • roland on September 4, 2014 at 7:26 pm

      Hi Travis,
      You are most welcomed. Did you go in the end? Did you get your cheapo wine and Taka vouchers? 😉

  3. Roland on September 20, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    An update on this article:
    I read Bottled Wealth Holdings have been sued by 6 local investors who alleged that they have been scammed by them. Since the publication of this post, there has been a lot more online comments about this company. Most are very negative. So if you even think of giving them a single cent, please think twice.

    Article here: http://business.asiaone.com/news/wine-investors-demand-refund-after-firms-empty-promises

    Links to discussion here:
    1)http://scfjanelee.blogspot.sg/2014/06/damn-got-cheated.html
    2) http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/the-bottled-wealth-holdings-boiler-room-wine-investment-scam-con039t-c718671.html

  4. Colin on October 25, 2014 at 12:51 pm

    Hi, Roland
    Really thank you for your information 🙂
    They are in Jakarta right now, renting a very luxury space to promote their event.
    With free wine tasting and 1million Rupiah voucher to spend.
    I almost wasting my time thanks to you….
    Regards,

    • roland on October 25, 2014 at 1:01 pm

      Hi Colin,
      that is their sales tactic. They will rent a high end place to give you an impression that they are a legitimate business and lure you in with free stuff. But soon after you sign up, it will be hard to contact them.
      Good thing you did your research! Good job!

  5. samuel then on November 17, 2014 at 10:30 am

    Hi rolland
    Thank you for the information. They have closed their office in indonesia. And leave a contact person name and number at their singapore office. His name: guiliano mata. Number 65 65363190 / 63278531. Is their office still operating at singapore? Thank you.

    • roland on November 17, 2014 at 10:49 pm

      Hi Samuel,
      Thanks for the information! I am not sure if the Singapore office is still operating. I will not be surprise if they have also closed their office here.

  6. Pablo on December 2, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    Hi Roland,
    The Singapore office is operating, I was there today before reading your post…

    • roland on January 1, 2015 at 12:28 pm

      Hi Pablo, Oh really?! ok. how did the session go?

    • ES on February 7, 2015 at 6:55 pm

      Hi Pablo, interested to know more about your encounter.
      Please share.

      Thanks.

  7. John on December 6, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    Hi Roland,

    Just attended one of the Bottled Wealth Holdings seminar here in Kuala Lumpur at Menara UOA Bangsar. Usual pitch as above but I’m not sold. In the end the salesman brought out his manager asks me whats my hesitation and I told them frankly how can I trust a private company whose name I just heard of today. I asked them if they are licensed under any Authority in Malaysia or the Securities Commission. The Manager immediately got defensive claiming that he would show me their license and approval once I sign up and paid them the money but not before. I told them I can report them to the authorities for running an illegal scam if they don’t produce me a license or permit and he replied that I was threatening them. I told the manager “I have an idea what they are ?” and he immediately got his staff to “rush” me away. I’m sorry for the couple in the hallway who apparently just signed up with them. OK so end of story BUYER BEWARE.

    • roland on January 1, 2015 at 12:28 pm

      Hi John, Good for you!! We need more of you to spread the news to others who might fall for the trap. Thanks for stopping by!

      • Alicia on June 12, 2015 at 8:25 pm

        Hi I just attend one as well. Apparently, the Singapore office is still operating. The sales guy is also pushy and a little frustrated when I said I need to think abt it over the wkend. Come on, it’s 5k not 5 dollars! I got my 100 buck Taka vouchers though. Thanks for the reviews posted here. Hope ppl will b more educated to avoid being a victim for these scams. Good luck!

        • roland on June 13, 2015 at 4:59 pm

          Hi Alicia, Thanks for stopping by! I didn’t know their office is still around. Yes, you are right that it is a $5k investment and NOT to be taken lightly.

  8. Eva Watson on January 20, 2015 at 9:34 pm

    Mr Guilliano Mata is a former timeshare sales shark that was fired by marriot vacation holiday club in Spain because of fraud and lying to marriot’s customers! He changed industry but scheme is the same here in Asia!

    • roland on March 21, 2015 at 5:22 pm

      I am not sure about the timeshare history. But if he has such a bad reputation online, it is best stay far away from him.

      • truthalwayscomesout on March 15, 2016 at 8:57 pm

        It is true! Eva Watson is correct! He used to work for MVCI prior to opening the wine business in Singapore, and was fired due to lying and missrepresenting the brand values!

        • roland on April 24, 2016 at 2:03 pm

          Wow! thanks for the info.

        • roland on November 6, 2016 at 1:07 pm

          thanks for the insights.

  9. How can I exit on January 28, 2015 at 10:34 am

    I Got pushed and purswaded to buy some bottle, at first they want to sell over 40+ wines with me, then I ask them to check the price for me from the seller’s webside, the price is even higher than their offer. After talk to the manager i finally buy 6 bottles, but I am damm regretted anot donot know how to get my money back ….. Any body get any suggestions//

  10. Kumar on February 3, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    Hi Roland,
    I am also a victim who invested 6 months ago In singapore branch. Did you get your money back? Should I report to police like six others to get my money back? Please advice.

    • YL on April 7, 2015 at 4:23 pm

      Kumar, I am a victim too, it’s very silly of me in last year having bought some bottles. There is a wine tasting session Apr 9, should all the victims go there.

      • Tas on July 27, 2015 at 9:57 pm

        I am victim too and intend to make police report. Not problem for me to meet up with guys.

    • Hesitant on April 22, 2015 at 5:04 pm

      Hi Roland/ Kumar,

      I am thinking whether I should invest. Would you be able to share the name of your Portfolio manger(s)?

      Kumar, in the last 8 months that you invested, has the company paid u the quarterly dividends as promised?

    • roland on March 21, 2015 at 5:13 pm

      Hi Gus,
      Thanks for providing the links to Mr Guillianno. It really pays to do a little homework before you put your money down on any investment!

      • YL on April 7, 2015 at 4:26 pm

        Hi Roland,

        Truly thanks for writing all these up, I should have read this last year. At that time I was just skeptical, now I am 100% sure that somethings should be done to get our money back. Would you have some recommendations?

        • roland on April 7, 2015 at 8:32 pm

          Hi YL, If you think that you are a victim of a fraud, I highly recommend you to file a police report. Or flag this up to CASE. They should be able to help you.

        • Victim on July 29, 2015 at 10:48 pm

          Seriously wanna come together to try get our money back, please text me at 87006934. We can arrange to meet up.

          • Tas on August 5, 2015 at 10:50 pm

            Hey, no text to me so far. Please stand out and come together in order to against them. Sms to 87006934.



  11. s on April 9, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    Even i attended a session yesterday ,did not invest any money but gave them a piece of mind before leaving the place.The sales man kept of insisting that he will be able to give me lot of discounts if i invest today and i was like even if i have to buy a shoe i visit 3 to 4 shops and then decide on one shoe. how do you think i will invest right away without inquiring about your company with friends family,online etc.
    He became offended with my answer and was kind of rude after that:-)
    Today on purpose i have sent him an email mentioning i am keen to invest but saw online thats its a scam let me see what will be his response!

    But how do they manage to rent a place for 12 years doing the same scam every year ! don’t they get caught !

    • roland on April 22, 2015 at 8:20 pm

      Hi S, Good that you did not invest right away! I am not sure if they rent a place for 12 years. Where are they now?

  12. MG on May 5, 2015 at 5:21 pm

    Hi Roland

    I got a call from them to attend a session today. Should be fun…. will go spend an hour take the voucher and bottle of wine and say thank you.. Any other such scams you know of ..dont mind attending the sessions.. free tea/coffee air con…seminar on how to sell will be useful as i am a salesman. Learn about scams…plenty of benefits on attending such seminars ..but as long as you dont invest in the crap they selling.

    MG

    • roland on May 5, 2015 at 11:21 pm

      Hi MG, You are funny! Please do come back to share your experience in the seminar.

      • MG on May 8, 2015 at 5:47 pm

        Hi Roland,

        Yes it went just went as described had a few glasses of wine ..heard him talk for a hr. They gave me a 100 $ Takashimaya voucher …already bought my wife a good gift. Now the guy David keeps calling me asking to invest and I keep saying I would and waste his time.
        I am thinking of setting up a group of my own referring TBW… send them 5-10 people each week to attend seminar and get the 100$ voucher and split it with me ..will bleed them in a year. lol
        MG

        • roland on May 14, 2015 at 9:56 pm

          Really?! I statue you. 🙂

        • Alicia on June 12, 2015 at 8:33 pm

          MG, must share with us how to fend off these pushy tactics POLITELY. Haha… Dun mind the freebies, too and most importantly, make them bleed for trying to scam more….

          • roland on June 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm

            Well Alicia, you don’t think the product is for you, you just have to stand firm and say no.



    • Alicia on June 15, 2015 at 11:45 pm

      Try Gold Bullion. There r such freebies, too. Come back and share 🙂 it shd be a lot easier to walk away than this one.

  13. Ksd on May 30, 2015 at 10:53 pm

    Hi MG. Bingo!! Even I was there today and million thanks to this thread we got saved. We had even taken out 400 dollars cash but the moment I googled about the co. 1st result was this scam thread about the co. Took 100 SGD Takashimaya voucher and came home.

    Thanks a million Roland and everyone else in this thread for saving us become another of their victims

    • roland on June 13, 2015 at 5:04 pm

      Hi Ksd, Good thing you did research before jumping in! thanks for sharing your experience!

  14. Alice on May 30, 2015 at 11:09 pm

    Hi Roland,
    Thanks for sharing the story. It’s very helpful. I got a call from them, my appointment was this morning. I almost forgot cos i asked them to send details over email which they did in a very last minute. Luckily i found your blog. I’m a procurement manager, so I’m interested to see their tactics. I quickly read the contract and pointed out wording which do not legally guarantee benefits as they claimed. It’s funny that sale person simply change topic and try to show me something else so I would stop challenging their contract clauses. He brought another person, pushing me to make decision today by offering special deal…I simply said that what’s different if I make decision today or 3 days later as long as your product is good. I spent 45-50 mins then went home with voucher & a bottle of wine. I’m not regret going there, good learning with free gift… why not.

    Alice

    • roland on June 13, 2015 at 5:02 pm

      Alice, Good for you! How was the wine? 😉

      • Alice on June 16, 2015 at 12:31 pm

        The wine is so so… I’m more happy with voucher 🙂

      • Alicia on June 17, 2015 at 9:49 pm

        I was thinking if there is a way to embarrass these sales in front is everyone at the presentation. A few can sign up with other introduction of friends u know here who can’t get back their investment funds. Get them to be there and the newbies can tell these ppl if they can’t even pay present investors, how to trust them? I just can’t imagine how they will react. 🙂 not sure if this can pressure them to pay these poor victims.

    • Alicia on June 15, 2015 at 11:42 pm

      Good for u Alice. I missed the wine… Haha but 100 bucks richer which I dun mind too. Was thinking we should all gang up and get them to bleed by giving us those freebies…

      • Alice on June 16, 2015 at 12:38 pm

        Count me in… i don’t mind to bleed those scammer.

        • Alicia on June 16, 2015 at 8:16 pm

          Haha… Me too. If we know if such scams, happy to attend 🙂

      • roland on November 6, 2016 at 12:36 pm

        Wah… ideas are flowing!

  15. Jassica on June 2, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    All your comments are so helpful. Thanks! I’m going for the talk now to collect the wine & voucher

    • roland on June 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm

      Remember to come back and share your experience!

  16. Alan on July 6, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    Just got a call from number 6222 8830 on wine investments at 1 Raffles Quay, they are offering $100 Taka voucher, 1 hr sit in, no obligations, $5k minimium investment. Ask the caller about types of wines, sales lady only said to come attend to find out more with emphasis on ‘No Obligations’ again. Will attend tomorrow for the 1 hr sitting and update after….

    • roland on September 28, 2015 at 10:57 pm

      Hi Alan, do come back to tell us about your experience!

  17. David on August 18, 2015 at 10:21 am

    The owner of a company in Hong Kong called Art Futures Group is the old owner (and probably still share holder) of Australian Wine Index !!

  18. Name on August 18, 2015 at 9:19 pm

    I just went to the talk this evening. No more free wine. Only $100 Taka vochuer. Still same location & the British said they will shift to Fullerton cos they are doing so well. I googled in front of them & came to ur page. Immediately, I told them that I am not comfortable.

    • roland on September 28, 2015 at 11:20 pm

      Wah! How did they react when you showed them this blog?!

  19. maddy on August 20, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Just Received call from +65 6327 1995, informed that i have been selected for $100 Takashimaya voucher, I can collect after 60min presentation about alternative investment which ll be held at 1 raffles quay north tower, #09-05 (048583). The address has been sent by a mobile number +65 9457 8840. Since the caller never allowed me to resist or deny to attend seminar I got doubt. So i just searched about them online. Found this forum and realized the scam. If any one want to complaint. Please note the above information.

  20. M on August 26, 2015 at 2:25 am

    Oh no i just invested but only 2K today, is there any way to get my money back? I thought i just want to try, i realized it is high risk but i thought it is ok if i can get high return.. Now i feel so dumb after reading the news and this blog 🙁

    • roland on September 28, 2015 at 11:07 pm

      Hi M, did they offer you any cooling off clause? Any luck in trying to get your investment back?

  21. Madhu on September 13, 2015 at 10:34 am

    Yes bunch of hi-fi jokers who is agn taking the name of China collapse to convince customers to invest agn.
    Afer so much of argument, they gave me exit plan.. 14% of what I invested ..means with 86% of loss. I agreed for this but agn i have to wait some paper work ,not sure if that is fake agn. No option to take my bottle also as I may have to pay more than value of bottles including tax and storage rentals as per them..
    Bad and costly investment experience…

    • roland on September 28, 2015 at 11:01 pm

      Hi Madhu, so sorry to hear about your investment. Hope your true sharing here can help benefit others after you. On behalf of the rest of the readers, thanks for the warning.

  22. […] of you have commented on the my earlier article about Wine Investment with Bottled Wealth Holdings and Australian Wine Index. I have tried to warn […]

  23. […] of you have commented on the my earlier article about Wine Investment with Bottled Wealth Holdings and Australian Wine Index. I have tried to warn […]

  24. Mark on October 30, 2015 at 6:49 am

    If this blog had existed back in 2010 when I ‘bought’ into AWI I might have saved myself a lot of heartache. Thanks for getting the word out. My investment is probably gone, but at least no new people will get duped.

    • roland on November 1, 2015 at 5:27 pm

      HI Mark, Thanks for stopping by. will need all the help we can get to spread the words around. Cheers!

  25. Sweety on February 24, 2016 at 3:40 pm

    Hi i have invested into tbw too. Any idea how can i get back my refund

  26. William on February 26, 2016 at 10:58 am

    Hai,
    I am also invested S$5600. Please let me know about my amount how to take back.
    My no 81129114.

  27. Rich on April 5, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    This guy is also the head of the recent Diamond scam, Asia Fine Diamonds. My aunty lost lots on that too!

    http://www.straitstimes.com/business/investors-left-in-the-lurch-as-diamond-firm-folds-up

    Where is this man now???

    • roland on November 6, 2016 at 12:33 pm

      Hi Rick, Sorry to hear about your aunty situation. Hope others can help.

  28. Jan on April 13, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    Hi Roland
    I invested rm5600 in 2014 n never follow up on it due to my busy schedule
    I was told all d bottles of wine that we bought with our investment money will be kept in the wine cellar at d old horse racing place in Singapore. And that we can go anytime to collect our wine if we wish to drink it
    Is this true? Any of you investors out there know about Tis?
    Secondly I got an overseas call from a lawyer office in London
    She told me that a number of investors has decided to sue the bottled wealth holdings co using Tis law firm
    Is this really hapenning?????
    Someone please enlighten me???? Thank you

    • roland on April 24, 2016 at 2:00 pm

      Hi readers, any investors can help Jen? Thanks.

  29. S on April 20, 2016 at 10:59 am

    How do you get called? I want the Taka vouchers…

    • roland on April 24, 2016 at 2:00 pm

      Hi S, haha.. I think they have moved on to other cities. However, they may come back again like what they did previously. Do keep a look out!

  30. M on April 20, 2016 at 11:10 am

    BTW, how exactly do private owners sell vintage wine and liquor in Singapore? I thought of selling it to those Wine investment funds but now it seems they are not even operating properly. Our bar counter is overflowing with newer bottles we get here and there and there’s not a lot of storage left. And we don’t drink so it’s just left there for decoration literally… But the liquors are 20-50 years old and pretty decent brands like Remy Chivas, Johnnie Walker 12 Black/ Gold 18, various old wines etc. So I think they should be worth a lot and quite rare (was very hard to find comparable info with the similar age online at least).

    But I don’t want to consign to an auction house (which told me they will take all my stuff to Hong Kong and I have to pay for shipping and insurance even if they can’t sell – Plus I had my art stolen/ scammed by someone who offered to sell and never did and didn’t return it either). Any idea where to sell apart from like Gumtree/ Carousell? Is there like an wine investors/ sellers forum or somewhere where people can sell the physical bottles away for a fair price?

    Thanks in advance!

    • roland on April 24, 2016 at 1:59 pm

      Hi readers, anyone can help M?

  31. Martin on May 25, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    Hi all TBW victims,
    Did anyone received calls from a UK based company ITRA? I am not sure they are geniune as in the internet they claimed the director is from those scams companies. ITRA staff told me that there are some Malaysians flying down to Singapore on Monday 30 May 2016 by Tiger Air to attend ITRA 2 hours invitation at Ngee An City Tower B. Frankly I have doubt on this company. We maybe con one more time if we are not careful. Let me know your thought. Below are some interesting news for your reading pleasure.

    http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2052250/TONY-HETHERINGON-Is-timeshare-action-group-just-new-way-push-sales.html

    https://forum.holidaywatchdog.com/itra-t105819-Page-10.html

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/andrew-penman-investigates-international-timeshare-2284467

    http://www.timeshareconsumerassociation.org.uk/2014/11/28/itra/

    You may want to read more, go to Yahoo or Goggle and just type ITRA

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