Background on the Fraud Scheme
Mitchell Green joined Sire Spirits in 2018 as director of brand management. According to court filings, including the arbitration award, Green secretly negotiated inflated purchase prices with French distilleries and arranged for side deals that funneled approximately $2.2 million into his own offshore accounts from 2018 through 2020. Rather than passing cost savings onto Sire Spirits, he allegedly pocketed the excess funds, disguising his actions by submitting falsified invoices and instructing suppliers to route payments through shell entities.
The scheme unraveled when Green became the target of an extortion attempt by an acquaintance who claimed to possess evidence of his misconduct. In panic, Green confessed to Sire Spirits’ counsel and federal authorities. Sire Spirits promptly terminated him, demanded restitution, and initiated arbitration. An arbitrator ruled in favor of Sire Spirits in late 2020, awarding $6,128,000 in compensatory damages for breach of fiduciary duty, plus attorneys’ fees and interest. The award’s breakdown included:
