Labouré-Roi accused of widespread fraud

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Burgundians were shocked yesterday to find three pages of their daily paper, the quaintly named Bien Public, devoted to the news that four of the most senior executives in the region's third biggest négociant Labouré-Roi were arrested last week, charged with faking more than two million bottles of wine during the period 2005 to 2009.

The four include not just the company's oenologist and general manager but also the owners Armand and Louis Cottin, who are both in their early eighties (their brother Philippe used to run the négociant business that was run alongside Château Mouton-Rothschild). The company is...