(Wine-Searcher) - The convicted counterfeiter has launched an appeal, claiming illegal search and improper indictments.

The world's most famous convicted wine fraudster, Rudy Kurniawan, has lodged an appeal against his 10-year sentence, arguing that the search of his home at the time of his arrest was illegal and unconstitutional.

Kurniawan created headlines when he was arrested in 2012 and charged with mail and wire fraud over the supply and sale of counterfeit wines over a seven-year period. He was also charged with fraudulently obtaining a loan and was convicted on both counts in 2013. He was sentenced – after several delays – in August last year.

Lawyers for Kurniawan filed the appeal in New York this week, raising three main points – that the search of Kurniawan's apartment was impermissible, that the mail and wire fraud charges were improperly laid and that the order for reparation – $29 million – was improperly arrived at.

The main thrust of the appeal centers on the search of the home following Kurniawan's arrest on March 28, 2012. FBI agents arrived at his door with an arrest warrant and arrested him on the porch of his property. Agents also removed Kurniawan's "4’ 8”, frail elderly mother" from the property before searching it and discovering counterfeit labels, empty bottles and other evidence of Kurniawan's fraud. They later obtained a search warrant for the property.

However, the appeal argues that the initial search was a breach of Kurniawan's rights under the Fourth Amendment, as the arrest warrant did not give agents the right to search the property and, therefore, any evidence collected should have been suppressed. That was argued at the original trial, but dismissed.

The second prong of the appeal is what Kurniawan's attorneys describe as the "improper" bundling of six discrete events into one indictment. The events are instances where Kurniawan sold counterfeit wines and cover a period from 2005 to 2012. The appeal notes that if the offences had been charged individually, only two would have been allowed under the statute of limitations. That was also argued and dismissed at the original trial.

The third element concerns the amount of compensation awarded. Kurniawan's attorneys argue that since the people who bought the wines were high-net-worth individuals, the financial impact was lower and that should have been taken into consideration when sentencing was carried out.

Kurniawan was ordered to pay $29.4m in restitution by the sentencing judge, including a "lump sum payment" of $200. If he works while in prison, he will pay back $25 per quarter. 

The 85-page appeal also contains a fascinating background of the circles that Kurniawan moved in during his glory days and suggests that counterfeits were an open secret among collectors and auction houses.