Accused Wine Thief in Court Over Goldman Exec's Lost Bottles
Accused Wine Thief in Court Over Goldman Exec's Missing Bottles
(Bloomberg) -- Nicolas De-Meyer’s trip across the U.S. wasn’t quite as glamorous as his year abroad.
The former personal assistant to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Co-President David Solomon allegedly admitted to his employer in November 2016 that he stole $1.2 million worth of rare wine from his collection and promised to meet with Solomon and his wife the next day to repay them.
Instead, prosecutors say, he fled to Italy, and spent the next 14 months in Europe and South America, visiting cities including Rome, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, before returning to the U.S., where he was arrested Jan. 16 at Los Angeles International Airport. On Tuesday, the 40-year-old made his first appearance before U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan.
De-Meyer, unable to meet onerous bail conditions, has been in federal custody ever since. He was moved from a detention center in Los Angeles to another in Oklahoma City before being transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, according to prison records.
De-Meyer worked for Solomon from 2008 until November 2016 when, prosecutors say, he admitted to stealing seven pricey bottles of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. The wine was part of the Goldman executive’s collection. In all, prosecutors say De-Meyer stole hundreds of bottles.
According to testimony from an FBI agent at a Jan. 17 hearing in Los Angeles, De-Meyer admitted his theft in a phone call with Solomon’s wife. But he wasn’t given assurances he would avoid prosecution, and he fled. That fact, if proven by prosecutors, may work against De-Meyer’s defense should he press for a trial.
"He said he was scared he was going to be arrested and he left," Assistant U.S. Attorney Benedetto Balding said at the California hearing. "He left because the victim couldn’t promise that he would not be prosecuted or go to prison."
Neha Christerna, a public defender who represented De-Meyer at his Los Angles appearance, had asked for bail, saying De-Meyer has spent his whole life "crime-free."
Official Duties
Prosecutors have said that De-Meyer, whose duties included handling wine shipments to Solomon’s residences in Manhattan and the Hamptons, allegedly used an alias, "Mark Miller," to sell stolen bottles to a North Carolina-based wine dealer.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Rodriguez said the government’s evidence includes recorded phone calls between De-Meyer and Solomon’s wife, along with emails, telephone logs, bank statements and photographs.
De-Meyer’s troubles began to surface last year, after losing his job. In May American Express Co. sued him for $76,415, claiming he failed to pay off his Platinum Card account.
Solomon, 56, considered a contender to succeed Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, is a wine collector who earned the title of Mr. Gourmet 2010 from the Society of Bacchus America. He had a 1,000-bottle wine storage area in his Manhattan residence, according to The Real Deal.
De-Meyer, who was shackled as he was led into court, declined to comment after the hearing, as did his lawyer. De-Meyer is scheduled to return to court on April 4. Goldman Sachs representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Paul Cox
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