Hanna Agostini, Robert Parker’s former translator, has been found guilty of complicity in a fraud.
The judgements were given yesterday by the Bordeaux Tribunal, where Agostini received a one-year suspended sentence.
Her co-accused Isabel Pinto received three years, and a third woman, Monique Caro, received three months, both also suspended, ‘due to the time that has passed since the events took place’.
The main case rested on Isabel Pinto, who was accused of false accounting practices – specifically sending invoices to clients for work that was not done, and using the money to buy items for herself and her family – while she was administrative director of the Dutch-Belgian Geens wine group,
Agostini, who consulted for Geens between 1999 and 2001, and Caro were accused of complicity in her fraud.
The 12 wine companies who brought the action have been awarded €780,000 from Pinto, and €25,000 from the three women together.
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Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux
