Albany

A giant liquor distributor defrauded four city bars over a period of years by charging for alcohol that the businesses never ordered or received, according to a lawsuit seeking more than $1.25 million in damages.

The suit, filed Tuesday, alleges a salesman for Southern Wine and Spirits, with knowledge of management, repeatedly put through unrequested last-minute orders, known as "will calls," that the representative signed for under his own name or with forged signatures, sometimes misspelled, of representatives of The Barrel Saloon, The Capital Bistro, Public House 42 and Pearl Street Pub.

The businesses, co-owned by Chris Pratt and Alessio Depoli, are all in Albany and opened between 2009 and 2014. Filed on behalf of Pratt and Depoli by attorney James D. Linnan, the suit seeks $500,000 for Pearl Street Pub, the oldest of the four bars, $250,000 apiece for the other three, punitive damages to be determined, court costs and attorney fees.

After a review of financial records and inventory, Pratt said the bars paid Southern more than $42,000 for wine and spirits they neither ordered nor received, most taken as part of automatic monthly withdrawals. He also found more than $100,000 charged through his accounts with Southern that wasn't paid by the bars, suggesting the Southern rep was padding sales figures by ordering on the bars' accounts, returning some products and likely selling the remainder elsewhere on the side, according to Linnan.

The practice came to light over the summer, when Pratt, alerted to a discrepancy, asked to review his will-call orders. While his records showed only 10 will-calls, he eventually turned up from Southern a stack of orders several inches thick dating back years, he said. Some were for products that his bars don't sell, such as high-end Scotch for the barbecue-focused Barrel Saloon, and others for quantities that would take many months to sell.

Pratt, in an interview Tuesday at Linnan's Albany office, acknowledged he should have caught on sooner.

"We weren't paying attention," he said. "But they're a (multibillion)-dollar company. You don't think they're going to be scamming you."

The suit names Southern Wine and Spirits of Upstate New York and Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits of Upstate New York, its name as of earlier this year following a merger. The New York company is a subsidiary of Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, a $16 billion-a-year conglomerate that is the country's largest distributor of wine and spirits, selling more than 150 million cases in 44 states plus, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean and Canada, according to reports in industry journals.

Linnan said negotiations with Southern broke down when the company offered an unsatisfactory financial settlement and refused to acknowledge a systemic practice of padded bills and charges for products never ordered. Linnan, who previously owned a restaurant and has represented bars and restaurants in legal matters for decades, said conversations he and Pratt have had with other bar owners suggest the abuse is rampant.

"It's not just me; it's every bar owner in the state," Pratt said. Referring to Southern, he added, "They know it happens, and they haven't changed their policies, as far as we know." He said he switched his business to other distributors except for key brands including Tito's Vodka, Jameson Irish Whiskey and Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, which are demanded by customers by name and carried exclusively by Southern.

Linnan said when he and Pratt brought their allegations to the State Liquor Authority, they were told the agency has been alerted in the past to similar behavior by Southern.

"To my knowledge, the SLA is investigating this matter," he said. An agency spokesman didn't immediately reply to an inquiry seeking comment.

Hank Greenberg, an Albany attorney representing Southern, said he had not seen the suit and declined comment.

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