Combatting wine fraud is part and parcel of Maureen’s appreciation of the hard work, skill and artistry that goes into creating great wine. Struck by passionate collectors’ needs for qualified advisory services with their wine collections, Maureen founded Chai Consulting in 2005 to help them focus on their individual needs and passions.

With over 20 years of in-depth wine industry experience, Maureen Downey stands out as an independent expert on fine and rare wine, and the foremost authority on counterfeit wine and has compiled the largest database on the subject in the world. Specializing in assessment, authentication and valuation, Maureen has inspected hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of wine in the course of advising the world’s top collectors, auction houses, wine merchants, restaurants and hotels.

Maureen has advised the FBI and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in a number of high-profile cases. She worked closely with the FBI on the Rudy Kurniawan case, advising them for many years in the initial investigation and in the subsequent lead up to trial. Through her comprehensive pre-sentencing reports, which the defense counsel did not contest, she was instrumental in increasing both jail time Kurniawan received and the damages apportioned to his victims. Maureen assisted and testified for Bill Koch in his successful lawsuit for fraud against Eric Greenberg. She has been the expert in numerous other cases in which her detailed and meticulous reports helped victims receive remuneration, or her work with law enforcement has resulting in successful prosecutions of wine and spirits fraudsters.

Maureen’s academic interest in wine began while she a freshman at Boston University. In her junior year, at the temder age of 20, she and the all-woman BU Wine Team won Kevin Zraly’s International Wine Competition. Shortly after graduating she received her sommelier certification, and went on to manage some of New York’s top restaurants including Lespinasse, Felidia and Tavern on the Green.