Wine investment fraudsters jailed at St Albans Crown Court
October 24, 2025
Trio jailed over wine investment fraud scheme
Hertfordshire County CouncilThree men who stole at least £6m from 41 victims in a fraudulent wine investment scheme have been jailed
Benjamin Cazaly, Dominic D’Sa, and Gregory Assemakis, all from London, were given prison terms by a judge at St Albans Crown Court.
All three were found guilty of fraudulent trading by a trial jury in August after an investigation by Hertfordshire County Council trading standards officers.
Judge Jonathan Mann told the trio at a sentencing hearing on Friday: “Some small investors lost their pensions, their homes and, in one case, his marriage.”
Hertfordshire County CouncilCazaly, 43, of Coach House, Orpington, south-east London, was jailed for six and a half years; Dominic D’Sa, 46, of Oxford Avenue, Wimbledon, south-west London, for four and a half years; and Gregory Assemakis, 40, of Plaistow Grove, Bromley, south-east London, for three and a half years.
All three had pleaded not guilty.
The judge heard that D’Sa had previously served a prison term for fraud, and that Cazaly was “captain of the ship”.
‘No means yes’
Trading standards officers said the fraud was run by a company called Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd – previously Imperial Wines of London.
They said 41 victims across the UK lost £6m in total.
The company had been founded by Cazaly, in 2008, and claimed to be a family-run investment house with offices in Paris and Hong Kong.
Investigators said, in reality, it was a call centre in an office building in Groveland Court, London.
Trading standards officers carried out a raid November 2018 – and found the mantra “no means yes” written on wall.
Hertfordshire County CouncilInvestigators said more than £37m passed through company accounts during the 10 years the two firms were trading.
They said pensioners were persuaded to put life savings into wine investments.
The judge heard that mark-ups were unreasonable – sometimes as high as 400% – and that investors were lied to and told that the company did not make money unless the wine was sold at a profit.
‘Gross misrepresentation”
“Each of you played a part in a fraud which resulted in many, many people losing large amounts of money,” the judge told Cazaly, Assemakis and D’Sa.
“Some customers were sold wine that was effectively worth nothing on the secondary market.”
The judge, who praised the efforts of trading standards officials, said there had been “gross misrepresentation”.
He said elderly and vulnerable people were targeted.
“Many were called repeatedly, day after day, often with the excuse of being a ‘friend’,” said the judge.
“One was told, ‘This is what your late husband would have wanted.'”
Hertfordshire County CouncilThe judge said all three men knew how wine was being sold, about misrepresentation and about “the lies being told”.
Judge Mann said there were a large number of victims and offending over a “substantial” period.
Investigators said cold callers using fake names followed scripts to persuade pensioners to hand over money.
Victims were sent glossy brochures that used logos from the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times without permission.
Trading standards officers said jurors listened to a recording in which a confused woman was asked for payment card details, despite not knowing what a card was or who she banked with.
Barristers for the three men offered mitigation.
Brian O’Neill KC said Cazaly was “captain of the ship”.
But he said there was no evidence that “elderly, vulnerable, customers were “specifically targeted”.
Tyrone Smith KC said Assemakis had played a “significant” but not a “leading” role.
Chris Henley KC said of D’Sa: “He worked out very quickly that things were not as they should be but was not strong enough to walk away when he should have done.”
Three other people – Ayesha Pindoria, 34, of St Keverne Road Mottingham, south-east London; Emma Akast, 37, of Riverside Walk, The Alders, West Wickham, south-east London, and Conor Crawley, 30 – were found not guilty of fraudulent trading.
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