Goldman Sachs boss robbed of $1.2M in wine

NEW YORK – A former personal assistant to a top Goldman Sachs executive liked his boss’ wine collection so much that he allegedly stole more than $1.2 million worth of rare and costly bottles.

Federal prosecutors in New York this week unsealed an indictment that accused Nicolas De-Meyer with interstate transportation of stolen property for taking hundreds of bottles and selling them to a North Carolina-based wine dealer.

The indictment identified De-Meyer’s former boss only as “an individual who collects rare and expensive wine.” However, Goldman Sachs confirmed to news organizations that the victim was David Solomon, co-president of the New York-based investment bank.

The bank said the theft was discovered in fall 2016 and reported to law enforcement authorities.

De-Meyer carried out the scheme from 2014 until October 2016, prosecutors said. And he chose very fine wine. The indictment alleged the thefts included seven bottles of Burgundy from the French estate Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, “widely consid- ered among the best, most expensive and rarest wines in the world.”

Solomon had previously purchased those bottles for $133,650, the indictment alleged. De-Meyer allegedly stole hundreds of other bottles, authorities charged.

De-Meyer, 40, was arrested Tuesday night and was ordered detained during a Los Angeles federal court appearance on Wednesday. He is scheduled to be transported to the Southern District of New York for an appearance in Manhattan federal court, where the indictment against him was handed up.

Solomon, 55, is viewed as a potential contender to succeed Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. He is a noted wine collector who was named Mr. Gourmet 2010 by the Society of Bacchus America.

De-Meyer’s job responsibilities included receiving wine deliveries at Solomon’s Manhattan apartment and transporting the bottles to the wine cellar in his boss’ East Hampton vacation home on Long Island’s East End, the indictment alleged. The dealer or one of his employees generally traveled to New York City and picked up the wine at the Manhattan apartment of the man he or she knew as “Mark Miller.” That man was actually De-Meyer, authorities said.