Fraud

Will Rybolovlev’s courtroom loss be the art market’s gain?

Experts predict few operational changes after Sotheby’s wins fraud trial

Leaderscomment

How the Rybolovlev vs Sotheby's case shows the need for greater transparency in the art market

As the trial between the Russian billionaire and the auction house is thrashed out, it may be time to consider incorporating blockchain into the art scholarship process

Web3news

US Air Force officer arrested for alleged NFT fraud

An active-duty senior airman was detained for his role in a scheme overhyping the value of NFTs

Diaryblog

Does crime pay? Anna Delvey podcast may hold the answer

'Fake heiress' launches show while under house arrest in New York

Art world fraudster Anna Sorokin sued by her lawyer for $150,000 in unpaid fees

Sorokin's former lawyer, who faces charges of financial crimes herself, has accused the notorious scammer with withholding payments

A fugitive art dealer convicted of selling counterfeit art 14 years ago has been extradited to the US

Angela Catherine Hamblin, who has been hiding out in a small village in Scotland for over a decade, is being extradited to the US

Former manager at the Art Institute of Chicago accused of stealing $2m from the museum

The former employee faces four federal charges over an alleged fraud scheme that went on for 13 years

Art marketcomment

Charm, pedigree, contacts: how to dupe the art market

Court documents from the ongoing Inigo Philbrick fraud saga reveal that the secretive art market and the sheer attractiveness of its lifestyle will always suck the punters in

British art dealer Robert Newland pleads guilty to conspiring with Inigo Philbrick to defraud collectors and financiers

Newland was arrested in the UK in February and extradited to the United States in September, where he admitted his role in the $86m scheme for which Inigo Philbrick was sentenced to seven years in prison

Crime news

British art dealer faces trial in the US for alleged part in Inigo Philbrick’s ‘ponzi-like scheme’

Robert Newland worked for Philbrick’s secondary market business Modern Collections before stints at Hauser & Wirth and Superblue

Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez charged in connection with antiquities trafficking investigation

Martinez has been indicted for “complicity of gang fraud and laundering“ of objects purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Louvre Abu Dhabi

Dealer Inigo Philbrick sentenced to seven years in prison

Philbrick pleaded guilty to an $86m fraud in November in one of the art world's highest-profile criminal lawsuits in decades

Van Ham auction house to sell inventory of insolvent Galerie Michael Schultz

Schultz, who died last month, was arrested in 2019 on suspicion he cheated customers

Booksreview

From Modigliani to Imelda Marcos, museum thefts to market machinations: renowned German investigative reporters present an arresting story of art crime

The authors’ overview of the types of art crime includes serious analysis—and some entertaining tales

Podcastspodcast

Fraud: the case of Inigo Philbrick

Plus, Warhol’s Catholicism and Moscow’s new museums

Hosted by Ben Luke. with guest speaker Georgina Adam. Produced by Julia Michalska, Aimee Dawson and David Clack. With Henrietta Bentall
Sponsored byChristie's

'No matter how wealthy you are, no one is above the law': New York court rejects Sotheby's attempt to dismiss suit alleging it helped collector evade tax on $27m of art

Attorney general claims the auction house created and used tax exemption certificates that falsely presented the buyer as an art dealer in order to dodge payments. Sotheby's says it will continue to contest the case

Crime news

Jailed diamond dealer and art collector Nirav Modi fights extradition to India on mental health grounds

Modi, who is currently held in Wandsworth Prison in London, is wanted for allegedly defrauding a state bank of £729m

Family members fall out over Rembrandt stored in a New Jersey basement

An heir of an early owner claims that family members conspired to have it sold without his knowledge

Fraudnews

Client confidentiality overturned by London High Court, as Dickinson forced to reveal buyer of $4.85m Signac painting

US collector Linda Hickox is seeking to recover the work which was sold via broker by the now jailed art dealer Timothy Sammons

The devil is in the paperwork—don't be caught out by provenance fraud

The rise of the online art market means due diligence on purchasing art is becoming increasingly complex

Two Manhattan antiquities dealers arrested on charges of fraud

Authorities have accused Erdal Dere and Faisal Khan of running an alleged scheme to swindle buyers by using fake provenances

Lawnews

New York grand jury indicts Inigo Philbrick on federal fraud charges

The dealer was arrested by the FBI on the Pacific island Vanuatu last month and transferred into federal custody

Monaco court dismisses criminal case against Yves Bouvier

The Swiss art dealer had been accused of fraud and money laundering by the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev—a related case in Geneva remains active

Fugitive art dealer Inigo Philbrick found on Pacific Island, charged with $20m fraud scheme

London and Miami-based Philbrick, on the run since October, was arrested by FBI on Vanuatu on Thursday

Florida man who bought a Rothko from Sotheby’s using a stolen identity sentenced to 4.5 years in prison

The interior decorator was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for buying art from galleries, auction houses and collectors using his wealthy clients’ credentials

Convicted art fraudster Ezra Chowaiki subject of yet more legal drama

New racketeering suit against the disgraced New York art dealer, brought by a Spanish collector regarding paintings by Picasso and Léger, gets off to a mixed start

Art lawcomment

Selling art online? Here are the legal pitfalls to avoid

Lawyer Petra Warrington on how to protect your business if you are holding online auctions, exhibiting and selling works on Instagram, or entering into sale contracts by email

Robert Indiana’s LOVE at centre of new $150m fraud claim

American Image Art founder alleges certain works are in the public domain and cannot be copyrighted

Fraudnews

German socialite Angela Gulbenkian faces second criminal case over Warhol picture

The Munich-based dealer and collector is also due to stand trial in London for allegedly stealing £1.1m in Kusama pumpkin sale

Crime news

Released but still under investigation: Russian couple embroiled in fraud scandal

Igor and Olga Toporovsky linked to controversial show of Russian avant-garde works in Ghent