A company based in Chisinau is investigated for smuggling wine to the value of over 1.5 million lei, which was to reach the U.S. market as the product of a famous Georgian brand. During searches, the police identified a number of consignments of whisky and wine, IPN reports.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases, the firm organized the scheme to export over 10,000 bottles of wine that it declared as Moldovan wine, but the labels on the bottles showed that the wine was made in Georgia. The company indicated that the value of the merchandise was of about 400,000 lei at a time when the real value was set at over 1.5 million lei.

As a result of searches at the company, there were seized batches of alcohol from Georgia and Ireland – over 11,700 bottles of wine and more than 600 bottles of whisky – and also accounting records and samples of labels that were to be put on bottles.