Nant whisky barrel buyback scheme leaves sour taste

In what is considered the state’s biggest fraud case, Tasmania Police has engaged outside help as hapless investors wait for the investigation into a failed whisky barrel scheme to be finalised.

INTERSTATE police resources have been brought in to expedite the investigation into a failed Tasmanian whisky barrel buyback scheme which involves almost 900 angry investors.

While an audit of the barrels involved in what is considered Tasmania’s biggest fraud investigation has given investors the mostly sour financial news they were waiting for, the ongoing police case is causing frustration.

FEARS NANT WHISKY PROBE ‘TOO HARD’

Tasmania Police said the investigation into the whisky barrel buyback investment program operated by Nant Barrel Holdings Pty Ltd was the most complex fraud case it had dealt with.

The investigation has been going for almost three years and remains active.

“The total estimated value of the buyback program was approximately $21 million,” Tasmania Police said.

“Due to the unprecedented and complex nature of the case, considerable resources have been assigned to it.

“The investigation team has been increased to a total of four full-time detectives and has also engaged the assistance of South Australia Police’s Financial and Cybercrime Investigation Unit and a Victorian forensic accountant in order to expedite the investigation.”

Peter Bignell of Belgrove Distillery (left) in Tasmania's Southern Midlands with whisky investor Tim Johnson, who was caught up in the failed Nant distillery barrel investment scheme. Peter is offering storage for a barrel of Tim’s whisky that he managed to retrieve from Nant. Picture: PETER MATHEW

Police said the team had contacted more than 800 potentially affected parties – in Tasmania,

interstate and overseas – as part of the criminal investigation.

“We can understand investors’ frustration that the investigation is taking some time to finalise and Tasmania Police remains committed to conducting a thorough and comprehensive investigation,” a spokesman said.

“It is vital to fully gauge the extent of the alleged criminal activity in what is a very complex, detailed matter.”

The scheme does not involve the company that is currently operating as Nant Estate in Bothwell.

INVESTMENT WAS JUST AN EMPTY PROMISE

Before Christmas, investors were offered a fraction of the value of the contents by the new distillery owners.

Australian Whisky Holdings offered to pay about 20 per cent of the original value of the whisky to those who originally purchased barrels from the Nant distillery.

Nant collapsed owing $4.9 million in 2017 and the distillery was then acquired by AWH, which agreed to manage investor barrels even though they were not a party to the whisky investment contracts.

Under the scheme, investors purchased barrels of whisky for up to $15,000 each after production began at the Nant distillery in Bothwell in 2008.

Nant, launched by now-bankrupt Brisbane businessman Keith Batt, sold barrels under 13 different investment schemes, promising to buy them in four years for a 9.55 per cent annual compound return.

But most investors got nothing back and an AWH audit later revealed that more than 1330 barrels did not exist.

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It also found that some barrel contents were sold on but investors were not informed or paid.

AWH recently had all the barrels expertly assessed and has been passing on the bad news to investors.

“It is a mess but we are working through the process,” AWH executive director Geoff Bainbridge said.

“Everyone is now waiting for word on the criminal investigation.”

Mr Bainbridge said the audit conducted found only about five per cent of the barrels were ­assessed as “A grade”, 50 per cent was “usable” and 45 per cent “unusable”.

It ­seems some of the whisky was watered down while other barrels were never filled.

Investors whose whisky does exist can choose to collect it and sell it themselves, but AWH is ­requiring them to first pay $420 for the barrel in which their spirit is held.

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