Fraud probe wine company in administration

Several customers contacted police and trading standards after they failed to receive wine bought from SurplusWine.co.uk, which was owned by Leeds-based company Mardenis.

Mardenis was based at 3 York Place, an upmarket Leeds restaurant that closed at the end of March.

Yesterday it was confirmed Mike Kienlen of Armstrong Watson had been appointed as the administrator of Mardenis.

In a statement, Mr Kienlen said: "If anyone has ordered and paid for goods that have not been delivered by the company, regrettably, the company is not in a position to supply these orders.

"Refunds will not be possible due to the company's lack of funds when it entered administration. Anyone affected by this is now classed as an unsecured creditor... Based on the information currently available, it is unlikely that there will be a dividend to unsecured creditors in this case.

"If anyone has paid by credit card, they should contact their card provider to establish whether they are entitled to a refund and forward to them a copy of the administrator's letter."

Last month, a West Yorkshire Police spokesman said officers were looking into a "suspected fraud" relating to the sale of imported wine.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards said they were investigating complaints about SurplusWine.co.uk.