"Five of the indicted individuals worked for Southern Glazer's, the largest alcohol distributor in the United States. Among the defendants named in the case are Adrian Ruiz, who was the senior vice president for the California chains division, and vice president Michael Dehdashtian, 48, vice president Stephen Magliocco, 47, and director of sales Ryan Dow, 40, who all worked under Ruiz, 54."
"According to prosecutors, the distributors schemed with Patrick Briones, who worked as the lead wine buyer for Albertsons' 300-some Southern California grocery stores from 2017 to 2024. On a regular basis, Ruiz's team identified which new alcohol products they wanted to promote on the shelves and then met with Briones about those products, the indictment says."
"Investigators from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau were first tipped off to the alleged scheme in 2018 when, according to the indictment, they learned prepaid gift cards were being used by alcohol industry employees to pay out bribes."
Five executives from Southern Glazer's, the largest U.S. alcohol distributor, and a Napa winery salesperson face federal indictment for operating a bribery scheme. The conspiracy involved bribing Patrick Briones, lead wine buyer for Albertsons' Southern California stores, to secure favorable shelf placement for alcohol products. Investigators discovered the scheme in 2018 when they learned prepaid gift cards were used to distribute bribes. The defendants, including senior vice president Adrian Ruiz and other distributors, allegedly identified products to promote and determined which sellers would pay bribes for better distribution. Bribes included designer watches, suits, luxury vacations, Vegas trips, and personalized handbags.
#bribery-and-corruption #alcohol-distribution #grocery-store-retail #federal-indictment #wine-industry
Read at SFGATE
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]