The Justice Department has called a federal grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into the venerable New York City wine company Sherry Lehman Wines & Spirits, according to former employees contacted by authorities.
Founded in 1934 in Manhattan, Shelly Lehman has long been one of the top distributors of fine wines in the United States. But last month, The New York Times reported that the store had failed to deliver large quantities of the prized wine to prepaid customers. The newspaper also cited a former employee who believed Shelly Lehman was improperly selling customers’ scarce bottles from its storage facility to other customers.
Criminal investigations are conducted by agencies such as the Federal Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, the Postal Service, and the New York Police Department. The focus was at least partly on Shelly Lehman owners Shaida Gilmer and Chris Green, former employees said they were questioned about their dealings with them.
Witnesses are being asked to appear before a federal grand jury in Manhattan later this month, former employees said.
A U.S. Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. FBI representatives involved in the investigation. Postal Service; New York City Police did not respond to requests for comment.
Eric Andrus, a spokesman for Shelly Lehman, did not respond to a request for comment about the investigation. Mr. Gilmer and Mr. Green also did not respond to requests for comment.
Gilmer and Andras have previously said the coronavirus and tariffs on French wine have delayed the delivery of some wines, and said they would deliver the missing wines by the end of the year. They denied Shelly Lehman had improperly sold bottles from Wine Cave, a storage facility owned by Mr. Gilmer and Mr. Green.
Earlier this year, the New York State Liquor Department suspended the liquor license of the Shelley Lehman store after it failed to pay renewal fees. Invoices and other records reviewed by The Times show Shelly Lehmann sold $358,000 of wine to real estate investors before her license was reinstated weeks later.
Gilmer has previously denied that Shelley Lehman sold wine during the suspension of its license, saying the real estate investor simply wanted to move the wine from the wine cave to another storage facility. Gilmer declined to say why Shelley Lehman’s invoices listed the transaction as a sale.
Three Shelly Lehman customers have filed a lawsuit against the store, claiming they never received more than the $1 million in wine they paid for. Shelley Lehman denies wrongdoing and is seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. (The Times, in a May 25 article, revealed that the reporter paid about $6,300 for wine she didn’t receive from Shelly Lehman.)
Department spokesman William Crowley said the state liquor department launched an investigation after the Times article was published. Authorities are cooperating with criminal investigations.
Mr. Gilmer joined the Shelley Lehman Company as a temporary employee before becoming a full-time salesman, eventually becoming a joint owner. Mr. Green, a former hedge fund executive, was a Shelley Lehman client and became a co-owner in 2013.
The Times reported last month that wine belonging to Mercedes Bass, the ex-wife of oil billionaire Sid Bass, had been taken from the wine cave without permission and delivered to another customer. Mr Gilmer said at the time that the transfer was a mistake and that it would be returned to the Bass family within days, along with all the other wines the Bass family had in their Wine Cave.
Andrus said the Bass family took over the wine on June 1, but a family spokesperson said that was not the case.
Shelly Lehman’s Park Avenue store has been closed since March. Andras said it will reopen soon.Recent Wine Spectator Magazine report Shelly Lehman’s landlord plans to evict Shelly Lehman from the store if he doesn’t pay $3.6 million in arrears by June 16. Andrus said Friday that Shelley Lehman “is meeting its rent obligations.”
Shelley Lehman also has $2.7 million in sales tax arrears and owes millions more to financiers.
People familiar with the criminal investigation said the Justice Department was in control, partly because the wine was being transported across state lines.
Part of the investigation is handled by the FBI’s Art Crime Team, whose duties include investigating rare antiques and other valuable collectibles. Some of the wines sold by Shelly Lehmann sell for thousands of dollars a bottle.
