Wine Fraudster Spent Investor Money On Fast Cars, Golf

John E. Fox ran a Ponzi scheme telling investors they were buying wine futures, when instead Fox was spending more than $45 million of their money on a credit card for his wife, membership in two private golf clubs, and several sportscars. Fox also spent more than $900,000 on women he met through the internet. Fox Ortega Enterprises, which operated the now-defunct Premier Cru wine retailer – filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this year. Between 2010 and 2015, the business sold about $20 million of “phantom wine” to customers. Fox pleaded guilty in August, and now faces at least six years in prison, and tens of millions in restitution. “Saying he regrets what he did and apologizing to everyone would be an understatement,” said Fox’s lawyer, Robert Breakstone. “The business he started over 30 years ago is gone. His future – prison! When he gets out of prison in his 70s, he will have nothing. … [F]or all practical purposes, his life is over.”