by Andrew Lui, Ph.D., C.W.S.

Who really is dekantā's Makiyo Masa?

With the boom in the global whisky industry over the past few decades, fraudulent activity may be more widespread than we’ve cared to admit. A recent investigation by the BBC’s Sam Poling has uncovered sizable fraud in Scotch whisky cask investments in the UK. Her determined sleuthing has uncovered a small network of career criminals who duped hundreds of investors out of millions of pounds, selling casks of Scotch whisky that simply never existed in the first place. 

But how far does the rot extend? Are fraudulent companies a rarity in the whisky industry or are there more of them hiding in plain sight? Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly clear that whisky fraud is a serious global phenomenon that is being perpetrated by sophisticated networks with significant resources at their disposal. 

Sam Poling's work on uncovering a major whisky scam as documented on BBC's Hunting The Whisky Bandits might just be the tip of the iceberg.

One network with emerging concerns around whisky investment practices appears to have links – through shared ownership or directorship – to dekantā, a well-known online retailer of Japanese whisky and other spirits. Much of dekantā’s marketing materials centre around their founder, Makiyo Masa, whose “affinity for Japanese whisky runs deep, rooted in a familial heritage intertwined with the very origins of the industry,” or so they claim. But how her family history is purportedly connected to the stories of the great houses of Suntory and Nikka is never explained. 

Armed with a healthy dose of scepticism, I listened to archived episodes of Mark Gillespie’s Whisky Cast and immediately found one thing rather startling — Makiyo Masa’s accent, particularly her tonality, is a tell-tale sign of a Mandarin speaker rather than Japanese speaker. Her sporadic attempts at basic Japanese phrases such as arigatō gozaimasu are painfully strained. An AI-assisted search reveals that Makiyo Masa has never given a single interview in Japanese, nor has dekantā ever done a Japanese media event. 

A video clip of Makiyo Masa speaking on dekantā's sixth anniversary.

There are other things that don’t add up. Her instagram account, @makiyomasa_, which appears through AI-assisted facial recognition, bears the display name Makiyo Torii. (Perhaps she couldn’t decide whether to evoke an association with descendants of Shinjiro Torii or Masataka Taketsuru, the latter of whom was called "Masa" by his dear wife, Rita Cowan).

Dekantā also operates not as a Japanese company but, as per its website, one that is registered in Singapore. A corporate search reveals that the founders and current owners of the business are a UK national named "Edward Davidson" and a Chinese national named "MA Xianmei". Additional searches reveal that Mr. Davidson and Ms. Ma were married and have children together while dekantā does not have Japanese owners or directors of the business, past or present.

All of this begs the question: Is Makiyo Masa merely a fictitious persona played by Ms. Ma to lend instant credibility to an otherwise questionable business? According to one former employee, Ms. Ma was able to pass herself off as a Japanese whisky expert by memorizing crib sheets prepared by staff prior to each media event. If such a misrepresentation did occur, it may not amount to a criminal infraction but it would certainly be duplicitous, culturally offensive and morally reprehensible.

Business records pulled from Bizfile, Singapore's government portal for business incorporation documents.

To compound things further, Mr. Davidson and Ms. Ma are now at the centre of a storm over whisky cask investments. As reported by Felipe Schrieberg in Forbes, “sister Scotch whisky cask investment entities Cask 88 and Braeburn Whisky — which are linked with the Edinburgh-based company Whisky Merchants Trading Ltd — have all been shut down, with the latter now put into administration.” In fact, there are interconnected layers to all of these companies. The British and Singaporean entities of Cask 88 — a lucky number in Chinese as eight is a homonym for “wealth” — are co-owned by Mr. Davidson and Ms. Ma, though the former was dissolved in 2019. Similarly, they are the registered shareholders of Braeburn in the US and in Singapore (incorporated as both Braeburn Whisky Pte Ltd and Braeburn Whisky Singapore Pte Ltd). Mr. Davidson and Mr. Patrick Costello are the controlling shareholders of UK-based Whisky Merchants Trading Ltd. while the latter serves as a Director in all of Braeburn’s and Cask 88’s global entities. 

[Editor's Note: 88 Bamboo is an independent editorial and has no affiliation, association, or connection with Cask 88.]

Whisky cask investors outside of the United States were invoiced by the respective Singapore-based entities of Cask 88 and Braeburn. Funds were then transferred to UK affiliates to pay employees and buy casks and other supplies. This confusing company structure allowed Mr. Davidson, Ms. Ma and Mr. Costello to circumvent the UK’s Warehousekeepers and Owners of Warehoused Goods Regulations (WOWGR), move their funds to offshore accounts, reduce their tax burden and limit their liability.

Yet, despite these tactics, there are key differences between this group of companies and Cask Whisky Ltd., the firm at the centre of Sam Polling’s investigation. Firstly, the casks here do exist although some suppliers were ultimately never paid. Secondly, Mr. Davidson, Ms. Ma and Mr. Costello seemingly lacked criminal intent. As one former employee put it, “Edward isn’t smart enough to do anything dodgy.” This ex-employee went on to describe him as "greedy, incredibly selfish and definitely sexist" with a penchant for spending lavishly on parties and luxury goods, including first-class travel and exotic sports cars. Personal items and kids’ toys were allegedly expensed on the company credit card. Mr. Costello was described as someone with no financial or business training who found himself far out of his depths as a self-appointed CFO while now denying any culpability in having created this mess. Sales staff were awarded exorbitant commissions which, at times, were equivalent to the gross margin on any given cask, leaving little or no room for the actual operating costs of the business. All told, the Cask 88, Braeburn and Whisky Merchants Trading group of companies failed not because of wilful criminal wrongdoing but because of “epic mismanagement.” 

As these companies move forward with administration and creditors try to reclaim their assets, there are several burning questions left unanswered. For starters, how did this group of companies and the individuals behind them remain under the radar of industry scrutiny for so long? And, in regards to dekantā, if Makiyo Masa is a fabricated persona, can buyers truly be confident in the authenticity of the products that they’ve purchased? 

These questions point to the need for more diversity and regulatory oversight in the whisky industry. At a time when some whisky companies have abandoned prior commitments to workplace diversity, Makiyo Masa is a case study in how cultural homogeneity in the whisky industry led to a collective failure to spot a false identity for over a decade, which only fuels the erosion of consumer trust.

With respect to industry stewardship, overregulation can be stifling for innovation and competition. Lack of regulation, however, opens the door to fraud and shady conduct. Finding the appropriate balance for each jurisdiction should be a priority for business leaders and industry associations seeking to uphold the integrity of and consumer confidence in the whisky industry as a whole. 

Dekantā has released numerous Karuizawa whiskies of their own bottling.

Japanese regulations, in particular, leave much to be desired. According to its website, dekantā sells rare and exclusive whiskies, including those from the legendary, now defunct Karuizawa Distillery. Today, the original Karuizawa whiskies are estimated to be amongst the most heavily counterfeited in the world. Empty Karuizawa bottlers sell for hundreds of dollars on aftermarket auction sites such as eBay. While it is widely believed that some old-stock Karuizawa whisky remains in casks owned by Taiwanese entrepreneur Eric Huang, Japanese law does not require disclosure of how much liquid remains or the storage location of those casks. Without an audit, the value and provenance of these whiskies can never be ascertained, thus making it nearly impossible to verify the authenticity of either a vintage Karuizawa bottle or a recently bottled release of old Karuizawa stock.

Dekanta is the exclusive distribution partner of the new Karuizawa Whisky Co.

Dekantā also sells exclusive bottlings and private casks from the new Karuizawa Whisky Co. — not to be confused with the whisky being produced by Karuizawa Distillers Inc. at Komoro Distillery. Japan’s intellectual property regime, which allows companies with near identical names to trade in the same industry, is a disservice to consumers everywhere. 

To help protect the reputation of the whisky industry globally, jurisdictions need to increase transparency around corporate ownership, strengthen consumer protection laws, and modernize intellectual property regimes to eliminate confusion with companies or products with similar names. Short of that, I won’t be buying anything from dekantā or the new Karuizawa distilleries any time soon. 

Makiyo Masa, founder of dekantā. (Image Source: The Connected Table)

Editor's Note:

The views, opinions and research are those of the independent writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of 88 Bamboo's editorial team. 

88 Bamboo Pte Ltd is not affiliated with Cask 88, Whisky Merchants Trading, dekantā, Braeburn Whisky, their affiliates, or any other entities referenced in the article.