The owners of a yet-to-be-opened Westford liquor store are in some hot water after they were found stocking the Cornerstone Square shop’s shelves without obtaining a liquor license, as reported by wickedlocal.com.
According to a report from the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC), Westford Wine and Spirits, located in the new Cornerstone Square shopping plaza, received a shipment of alcohol from a closed liquor shop in Burlington.
As a result, the owners of Westford Wine and Spirits had to fulfill a series of mandates set by the state liquor authority including paying distributors back hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of alcohol by Aug. 20, which they purchased and did not pay for, according to the report.
The liquor store owners were charged with transporting and possessing alcohol without a license, said Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the Massachusetts Office of the State Treasurer, which oversees the ABCC. Although the town approved a liquor license transfer last fall, it was never approved by the state.
In connection with the offense, Burlington-based liquor store Burlington Wine and Spirits, at 43 Middlesex Turnpike, was fined $37,780 by the ABCC. The penalty was initially a 30-day suspension of the store’s liquor license, but the fine was later issued in lieu of the suspension. The liquor authority charged the shop for unauthorized transportation of alcoholic beverages, said Carlisle.
The report stated the owners of 34 Cambridge St., Burlington, liquor store Liquid Luck LLC, which goes by the name of Crossroads Beer and Wine, did not renew its liquor license at the end of 2012, but still ordered shipments of alcohol until Dec. 27. After the store closed, as much as $180,000 worth of alcohol was transported by U-Haul truck to Westford Wine and Spirits and then stocked in the store, the report stated.
Many of the two Burlington shops and the Westford shop owners are relatives.
Westford Wine and Spirits is owned by Visoth Nvon and Malavy King of Malvis Enterprises, Inc. Liquid Luck LLC was owned by Khemara Kang who is the nephew of Nvon and is the son of Malavy Kang, who are both corporate officers of Malvis Enterprises.
Nvon and his sister Malavy King own Burlington Wine and Spirits, which is also a Malvis Enterprises shop. Malvis Enterprises is located out of the Westford Wine and Spirits and Burlington Wine and Spirits locations.
However, according to Kang the violations were “just a misunderstanding and we expressed that to the ABCC board and we are going through the usual movements of how they work,” he said.
