A man convicted for being the ringleader of a group of counterfeiters operating out of Europe has apparently contacted Wine-Searcher and offered to name names in exchange for $100,000.

Alexsandr Iugov – also known as Alexander Amikin – was convicted of counterfeiting and was sentenced on Monday to four years' prison, with a minimum term of two years. Yesterday, Wine-Searcher received an email purporting to be from Iugov, saying he had been falsely convicted.

He said his lawyer had documentary evidence that would "explode the international fine and rare wine market", including invoices from US and European wine merchants who sold him the wines, knowing them to be fake. He offered exclusive access via a series of interviews for a sum of money.