David Doyle v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Company

In Doyle v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 21 Cal.App.5th 33 (March 7, 2018), the California Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's order dismissing a breach of contract lawsuit filed by David Doyle against Fireman's Fund in connection with a claim made under a first party property policy for coverage of the fraudulent sale of purported rare wine. Doyle was a rare wine collector and had purchased $18 million of purportedly rare, vintage wine, from a wine broker, Rudy Kurniawan. Subsequently, Kurniawan was arrested and convicted of fraud and sent to prison for 10 years in 2013. Kurniawan had apparently been filling empty wine bottles with his own wine blend and had been affixing counterfeit labels to the bottles.