1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

The plot thickened last wk in eye-popping series of fed criminal cases claiming a conspiracy to hide illegal payments by alc bev suppliers thru their distrib to retailers in exchange for better treatment. Fed prosecutors charged Patrick Briones, an asst sales mgr since at least 2015 at an unnamed "large national grocery chain," owned by bigger Idaho-based retailer, with 2 criminal charges: conspiracy to defraud the govt, a felony, and commercial bribery under fed alc bev laws, a misdemeanor. The first charge alone can carry a 5-yr prison sentence, 3 yrs of supervised release and a $250K fine. Conduct in question is linked to claims made against two sales leaders for a CA-based wine and spirits supplier, filed early this yr in NorCal fed ct. Each of those employees, Matthew Adler and Bryan Barnes, are named in these charging documents. They each pled guilty in April to criminal charges brought by fed prosecutors early this yr. They both appear in the charging documents filed against Briones, alongside 5 employees of the same unnamed distributor in the earlier cases, 2 other suppliers, at least 1 other supplier employee and the suggestion of many more involved individuals and companies. Unnamed Players and People Include Distrib Execs, VPs; a Dozen-Plus People, 6+ Suppliers Charging documents against Briones show up same way as they did against Adler and Barnes, as "criminal information." So it's not an indictment, charges haven't been cleared by a grand jury. But recall, both earlier defendants waived their right to an indictment in addition to pleading guilty, signs that they may be cooperating with prosecutors. Aside from these 3 defendants, all other companies or individuals are anonymized. But a 2015 press release from Albertsons names Patrick Briones as an asst sales mgr for Albertsons/Vons in SoCal, issued just ahead of that co's deal with Safeway, based in Boise. A LinkedIn profile states the same.Recall, Adler and Barnes appear to have been employees of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, which is distributed in California and elsewhere by Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits. A fall 2022 raid at that distrib's NorCal HQ by TTB and IRS kicked off speculation that charges much like those described in these cases could be coming. Charging documents filed last wk refer to at least 2 VPs and multiple "other employees" at the unnamed distrib, plus "an executive." The documents also repeatedly cite both of the third party vendors used by the distrib to coordinate payments to its employees and, as these filings reveal, retail buyers as well. At this point we're talking about one distrib, at least 6 suppliers, two outside vendors and at least a dozen individuals.Bribes Included Annual Trips to Maui, Las Vegas, Watches, Bags and More Briones, the retail buyer charged last wk, "demanded and accepted bribe payments from employees of" the known but unnamed distrib and suppliers "and others," filings explain. The goal was to sway his choice to stock new products, buy more of existing ones and prevent others from being de-stocked, "to the exclusion of competitors' alcohol products." That's the basis for the commercial bribery charges in violation of alc bev laws, which filing suggests involved numerous parties. But again, the heftier charges are based on the similarly widespread efforts to cover up that activity and hide it from not just the buyer's employer (which barred "vendor-funded travel" and required all gifts to be reported to mgrs) but the TTB and IRS (since gifts should've been taxed too).The bribes were extensive and the feds include plenty of specific amounts, dates and even gift card numbers to suggest that they've got the evidence to back up the charges. Briones and his wife got "annual trips" to "a luxury resort in Maui" along with a distrib employee and a "relative," packed with "massages, room charges, and thousands of dollars in gift cards," covered by false invoices. The Jan 2019 trip was invoiced to the distrib by a 3d party vendor at $20K, naming another supplier and calling it the "Regional Education Seminar 2018." The following year, the invoice for the trip went up to $30K, according to docs.Other "lavish vacations" included annual trips to Vegas from 2018-2022, arranged by those same 3d party vendors and including distrib employees. Tellingly, in June of 2020, "an executive" for the unnamed distrib "directed" the 3d party vendor "to remove references to BRIONES in an invoice" linked to those Vegas trips in order to help "conceal the true nature of the expenses." A whole other supplier funded a May 2021 trip for Briones to Pebble Beach, while others took him to Florida, Oregon, Cabo and elsewhere. Trips occasionally were paid thru prepaid gift cards but were also sometimes funded thru "local marketing funds" established "for legitimate purposes" by suppliers and the distrib.Bribes sometimes came in the form of gift cards for as much as $10K "per exchange," according to dealing with separate defendant Barnes, who recall was charged with bribing the buyer of a SoCal retailer. A list of 4 numbered invoices from one of the 3d party vendors on the same day totaled $21,146.74. The feds tracked Barnes' ordering of gift cards and then Briones' use of them in the following months. He also got a "luxury watch worth thousands of dollars" in 2015 and then again in 2017 and 2018, per filing. A $2,290 "designer bag" showed up in March 2020, funded by a different unnamed supplier and mailed by one of its reps. And there's more. So looks like much more to come, given how long fed agents have been digging in and how broadly this investigation seems to be swirling.

Feds File Felony Charges Against Buyer at Big Grocery Chain in Alleged CA Pay-to-Play Conspiracy; More People, More Suppliers, Few Names

Publishing Info