Italian police seize major counterfeit champagne haul

Italian police have seized 9,200 fake bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne worth an estimated €350,000.

Guardia di Finanza officers in Padua intercepted the bottles - along with 40,000 counterfeit labels and 4,200 fake boxes and production machinery - during a routine inspection last year after realising that a crate of the champagne did not carry a serial number used by the producer.

The entire haul could have earned the criminals €1.8m if all the seized materials had been used to make counterfeit bottles, said the GdF, which suggested the bottles had been destined for sale in Northern European markets, including Germany. It said in a statement that the seiure was on of the largest-ever of counterfeit champagne in Europe.

News of the raid was announced today after analytical testing showed that the bottles contained a sparkling wine sourced from Northern Italy. The wine was not adulterated and is not hazardous to health, and has been donated to producers in the Veneto region.

Lt. Col Luca Lettere of the GdF said that while a number of people have been questioned in relation to the counterfeiting, it is thought the scam has been organised by an individual rather than an organised criminal network. Investigations are however ongoing.