![]() Several civil lawsuits are being pursued to determine legal title to artworks that Philbrick allegedly oversold or used as collateral on loans. He likens him to America’s most notorious Ponzi conman, Bernie Madoff, who died in prison, having robbed thousands of victims worldwide of billions of dollars, describing Philbrick as a “mini Madoff”, who was brought down “mainly” by “a toxic mix of arrogance and alcohol”. What makes it all the more painful is that they were once friends, close enough to have holidayed together, and he remembers Philbrick as a “very talented art dealer” who was “sharp, fun and funny”. “He misappropriated my funds, my art, like he did with many people,” he says. His victims include Kenny Schachter, an American artist, academic and writer, who lost more than $1.5m to Philbrick. Prosecutors believe that his fraudulent scheme was operating between 20 and that contemporary artworks caught up in his complex web include Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting Humidity and Rudolf Stingel’s 2012 photorealist-style portrait of artist Pablo Picasso. ![]() When Judge Stein asked him why he committed the crime, Philbrick replied: “For the money, your honour.” He was no doubt being honest then. According to the complaint, “Philbrick fraudulently obtained more than $86m as a result of the scheme … Philbrick made material misrepresentations and omissions to art collectors, investors, and lenders to access valuable art and obtain sales proceeds, funding, and loans.” Last November, Damian Williams, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Philbrick had pleaded guilty before United States district judge Sidney H Stein to one count of wire fraud for perpetrating a scheme to defraud various individuals and entities in order to finance his art business. Having made his escape to a remote Pacific island, he was eventually arrested in 2020, finding himself going from paradise to prison. In the autumn of 2019, a lender officially notified Philbrick that he was in default of a $14m loan, and by November 2019, various investors had filed civil lawsuits. ![]() When Judge Stein asked him why he committed the crime, Philbrick replied: ‘For the money, your honour’īut the law finally caught up with him. A life of crime funded Philbrick’s life of luxury, reportedly ranging from travel on private planes to drinking the finest wines at £5,000 a bottle. His was a smoke-and-mirrors trade that involved selling a total of more than 100% of an artwork to multiple investors without their knowledge, using works as collateral on loans without informing their co-owners, and falsifying documents to inflate artwork values, with one contract listing a stolen identity as the seller, according to the US Department of Justice.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |