1855/Héraclès finally bust but many, many questions remain to be answered!

Emeric Sauty de Chalon  

Founder and PDG of 1855 renamed Héraclès 

 August 2012: 1855 on France2 – labelled ARNAQUE

Fabien Hyon, managing director of 1855 – Héraclès group 

Last Friday's final collapse into liquidation of Héraclès/1855 is good news as Hélène Poulou, the tenacious Bordeaux lawyer who has pursued this scam for a number of years, says.

Whether her nearly 400 clients will get much of the around €5 million, excluding damages, they are owed is another question. Poulou's clients paid around €1.2 million for wine they never received. The figure of €5 million is based on the current value of the wine ordered as well as the various fines that were imposed on the Héraclès group due to their failure to deliver.

How much, if any, of the more than €40 million claimed by over 11,000 clients of this long-running scam will they ever see?

Two of a host of questions that the long-running scandal of 1855/Héraclès raises.  

Here are a few more:

1855's failure to deliver wines, especially en primeur Bordeaux, date back at least to the 2002 vintage. Although the serious problems started following the 2005 vintage, when the prices shot up and Hyon and Chalon's decision to sell short blew up in their faces – or strictly speaking in the faces of their unfortunate clients. Yet despite an ever increasing volume of complaints, legal action and coverage in the media – print, TV and on-line, Hyon and Chalon were permitted to continue to fleece their clients to the end of 2014. 

Why wasn't this scam closed down much earlier?

Why no action from the Répression des Fraudes despite receiving complaints dating back years? 11,000 clients fleeced to the tune of over €40 million would seem to be reasonably significant.....

Héraclès/1855 went into administration in October 2013. Although it was clear that Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon were a pair of deliquents and not fit to run any business, the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris allowed them to continue to involved in running the company.    

 

Did Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon enjoy hidden high-level protection from within the French establishment? Did having Jean-Pierre Meyers as a long time shareholder perhaps provide them with a shield?

Did this protection extend into the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris who inexplicably waved through the innumerate and clearly inadequate business recovery plan. The mysterious PLF1 group based in Luxembourg offered only a total of €2.5 million yet the claimed debts totalled over €40 million. The €2.5 million was to be paid in two tranches – €1 million and then a further €1.5 million once the recovery plan had been accepted. Many clients who had ordered Bordeaux Cru Classés were to be palmed off with bottles of 2012 Bordeaux Supérieur, while the larger creditors were to be repaid over 8 years with the repayments weighted towards the end of the repayment period. 

In September 2014 the Tribunal accepted the assurances of an apparent 'representative' of PLF1 that the promised funds would be forthcoming. Yet in early December 2014 PLF1 informed the Tribunal that the person who gave the court the assurances back in September did not work or speak for PLF1!

Little is known of the shadowy PLF1. Was this a desperate late ditch ruse by Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon? Or was it, perhaps, a life boat constructed by one or more of Chalon and Hyon's well connected former shareholders?  

Despite all this why did the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris become complicit in this long-running scam when they gave Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon the green light to go on their merry ways and continue to fleece their unfortunate clients? 

Is the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris always this incompetent or was this a one off?    

  

Will French justice now at long last catch up with the two delinquents – Hyon and Sauty de Chalon? Will there now be a serious investigation into what happened to all the money paid to Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon's companies for wine that was never bought or delivered? Did Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon simply just trouser large dollops of cash or was it spent on glamorous parties and launches?  
 
Earlier post on the liquidation.

A suivre! 

 

News update on 1855 – the frauds appear to continue!

Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-Léognan 

Ordered: 1 bouteille Domaine de Chevalier 2007 – Pessac Léognan rouge : 39,95 € 

A very recent article in Que Choisir demonstrated clearly that the difficulties and frauds associated with 1855 continue even though the company is in administration. Through an intermediary Que Choisir placed an order for wine that should have been delivered within 24 hours – the wine was supposed to be in stock and available. However, a month later they were still waiting delivery of their wines. Impossible, of course, to contact anyone at 1855.

Hardly surprising as serial fraudsters Emeric Sauty de Chalon (Président du conseil d'administration) and Fabien Hyon (Directeur général) have been retained to run the company despite the very long litany of complaints and a host of legal actions against 1855! Friends in high places?  

Que choisir article:

'1855.com

La coupe est pleine

Que Choisir alerte régulièrement ses lecteurs sur les pratiques commerciales douteuses de 1855.com. Malgré plusieurs procédures en cours (dont une plainte déposée par l’UFC-Que Choisir), ce site de vente de vin en ligne est toujours en droit de poursuivre son activité. Actuellement en redressement judiciaire, la société est en période d’observation. Honore-t-elle pour autant ses commandes ? Pas vraiment.'

Curiously within ten hours of this article appearing on line three of the four wines ordered were delivered. I suspect if it wasn't for the article the person who had ordered the wines would still be waiting for them to be delivered. In any case 1855 – Hyon and and de Chalon – were only able to cobble together three of four wines ordered – all, of which, were supposed in stock. Arnaque toujours! 

The other news is that finally a preliminary investigation into the 1855 fraud has been set up. I don't hold up much hope that both Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon will be brought to justice as I suspect they still have well-connected friends in high places providing them with protection. 

There is also an interesting interview here with Hélène Poulou, the Bordeaux lawyer who represents some 300 fleeced clients. Also here there are further reflections on the persuasive charm of fraudster Emeric Sauty de Chailon. 

http://www.boursier.com/actions/actualites/news/heracles-ex-1855-le-parquet-de-paris-ouvre-une-enquete-preliminaire-570729.html

http://patrimoine.lesechos.fr/patrimoine/art-collection/marche-art/0203405616733-vin-la-descente-aux-enfers-de-1855-660624.php

http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/service-distribution/actu/0203377499212-1855-la-pyramide-de-ponzi-du-vin-657558.php

1855: interesting interview with Hélène Poulou

Château Latour

 

Very interesting interview in Terre de Vins with lawyer Hélène Poulou, who is based in Bordeaux and who has had very considerable success on behalf of clients who have not received wine ordered from 1855. In the interview she casts doubt on whether 1855 really does have financial problems.  

1855.com : clients en colère et gros bénéfices

TerreDeVins |  23 Mars 2013

L’avocate Hélène Poulou défend près de 200 clients du site de vente de vins 1855.com se plaignant de commandes non livrées. Elle a déjà obtenu de nombreux succès. Interview.

1855: why would anyone believe a word Emeric Sauty de Chalon says? + a new legal defeat

Emeric Sauty de Chalon: given the history of the 'fraudulent' 1855 why would 

anyone believe a word Sauty says?

Emeric Sauty de Chalon (0% credibility), founder and president of 1855, has replied here to last week's article in La Revue du Vin de France announcing the departure of Jean-Pierre Meyers as a significant investor in 1855 through Aphrodite, the holding company. Like Fabien Hyon, managing director of the 1855 group, Sauty seeks to downplay Meyers' investment. The article includes a riposte from LARVF.  

 

Trading in 1855 junk shares on Paris Bourse yesterday (13.12.12)

between 0.02€ and 0.03€ per share

1855's shares price over 5 years

Hélène Poulou, the lawyer based in Bordeaux and increasingly the scourge of Emeric Sauty de Chalon's 1855, has inflicted another defeat on the company. This time in Toulouse. Details here.

1855 lose another court case this time in Arcachon

Chai@Château Margaux

Lawyer Hélène Poulou has had a further success against the fraudulent internet wine company – 1855. This time at Archachon on Friday 12th October 2012. He represented a local client of 1855, who had ordered three bottles of en primeur Bordeaux at the end of April 2009 – Chx: Margaux, Haut-Brion and Angelus. 1855 contracted to deliver them at the latest by Spring 2011. The client is still waiting for his wine.

The court has ordered 1855 to deliver the three wines. If it fails 1855 will have to pay 50 euros a day. The fraudulent company has also been ordered to pay the client 500 euros in compensation plus 500 euros of costs. 

Little surprise that shares in 1855 slid briefly to 0.02c yesterday on the Paris Bourse. They have since recovered slightly and are now at 0.03c.   

1855 on TV7 following court appearance

 Château Lafite-Rothschild

Following a hearing in Bordeaux 1855 appeared on this news bulletin on 24th September. The case against 1855 was presented by Hélène Poulou, a Bordeaux based lawyer who has already won a judgment against 1855. The item on 1855 starts around 8.30 minutes in. As well as an interview with Poulou, there are also comments from the head of the CIVB (Conseil Interprofessionnel de Bordeaux) expressing concern at 1855 and the damage their failure to deliver wines their clients have ordered is having on the reputation of buying Bordeaux en primeur. 

(1855.com dans le journal télévisé du lundi 24 septembre sur TV7... (à partir de 8m30) Lien: [ www.tv7.com])

Despite the failure of Groupe 1855 to deliver wines and claims to bailiffs that it has no money in the bank, it has just acquired the Le Havre based  Caves de la Transat, which has two shops in Le Havre, one in Rouen and one in Paris.  

Just a question of how long it takes the 1855 'arnaques' to wreck the business. Another French wine company to avoid!