SAUSALITO, Calif., May 29 (UPI) -- A well-known resident of Sausalito, Calif., was charged with embezzling valuable wine entrusted to him for storage and using arson to cover his tracks.
Martin Anderson called himself "Joe Sausalito" in a column he wrote for a local newspaper. He was also a leading member of the Marin County, Calif., chapter of the International Wine and Food Society, one of his alleged victims, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Anderson began his wine storage business, Sausalito Cellars, in 1998 with financial help from his father. He was already under investigation for embezzlement in 2005 when a fire destroyed a wine storage warehouse in an old Navy building on Mares Island.
The fire destroyed an estimated $250 million worth of wine belonging to Napa Valley wineries, restaurants and private collectors. Anderson had rented space there but was reportedly behind in payments and facing eviction, the Chronicle said.
When police searched his house in Sausalito, officers allegedly found a single bottle of 1967 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes, a legendary wine, the newspaper reported. It allegedly belonged to one of Anderson's clients.
