A Russian oligarch said to be worth more than $6 billion has claimed that a well-known auction house deceived his art dealers into buying more than a dozen rare works of art for $1 billion more than their actual value. He is suing Sotheby's in court, claiming that he was
Dmitry Rybolovlev, who made his fortune as head of Russian fertilizer producer Uralkali, said in court documents that he owed art dealer Yves Bouvier, who helped him buy 38 works of art over 12 years for about $2 billion. He claimed that he had been deceived by Mr.
From 2002 to 2014, Bouvier was a Russian businessman who acquired an art collection that included classic works such as a depiction of Christ attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and works by Gustav Klimt, René Magritte, and Amedeo Modigliani. I helped collect them.
But the relationship ended when an art advisor representing the previous owner of the Modigliani painting learned that Mr. Rybolovlev had overpaid millions of dollars for the work.
Bouvier reportedly offered himself to Rybolovlev as an intermediary to facilitate the sale between an oligarch and the sculpture's owner, when in reality Bouvier sold the work to the owner for a high price. The lawsuit alleges that.
In 2013, at Bouvier's insistence, Rybolovlev bought Leonardo da Vinci's “Christ as Salvator Mundi” for $127.5 million, with Bouvier collecting a 1% commission, according to court documents. It is said that he did.
Mr. Rybolovlev claimed that Mr. Bouvier bought the work for $83 million and then jacked up the price.
Da Vinci's work is the most expensive painting ever sold at auction.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia's Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud sold it for $450 million at an auction held by Christie's in Manhattan.
Rybolovlev also claimed in the lawsuit that he paid Bouvier $83 million to buy Amedeo Modigliani's “Tete” sculpture in 2013, but Bouvier paid half that amount to buy the statue a few months earlier. Even though I paid for it.
Two years earlier, Mr. Bouvier was tasked with acquiring Modigliani's famous painting “Noux Couche au Cousin Bleu” on behalf of Mr. Rybolovlev, according to the complaint.
The oligarch claims Mr. Bouvier paid $95 million for the painting before flipping and selling it for $118 million, according to the complaint.
Mr. Bouvier then told Tania Rappo, the godmother of one of Mr. Rybolovlev's daughters, that he had been working with a Swiss art dealer to buy works for the Russian businessman and, without Rybolovlev's knowledge, 500 yen. He is said to have paid $10,000 in kickbacks.
In his dealings with Rybolovlev, Bouvier is said to have secretly increased the prices of 15 works of art by more than $1 billion.
The lawsuit he filed against Sotheby's is scheduled to go to trial next week in federal court in Manhattan.
“Sotheby's strictly complied with all legal requirements, financial obligations and industry best practices in the transaction of these works of art,” Sotheby's said in a statement. “Any suggestion that Sotheby's had knowledge of the buyer's alleged illegal activities or intent to defraud Mr. Rybolovlev is false.”
Rybolovlev's lawyer, Daniel Cornstein, told the Post that his client “looks forward to trial.”
“For the first time, all the evidence will be presented,” Cornstein told the Post.
“For the first time in nine years, Mr. Rybolovlev will speak publicly and explain in detail the truth behind this incident.”
Rybolovlev's case will also “show the world how the art market sometimes works.”
“It can alert other collectors and art lovers to protect themselves,” Cornstein said.
Bouvier is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
He denies the charges against him. The newspaper has contacted Bouvier's lawyer for comment.
Mr. Rybolovlev, who owns a beachfront property in Florida that was once the home of Donald Trump, has already sued Mr. Bouvier in several jurisdictions in Europe and Asia.
These disputes were settled and ended last year.
Despite the US Treasury's claims that he is an oligarch who enjoys “intimacy with the Russian regime,” he has so far been unable to comply with US sanctions imposed after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. is avoided.
Rybolovlev made the allegations in a lawsuit filed last year against Sotheby's auction house for aiding and abetting fraudulent sales.
Sotheby's is accused in a lawsuit of intentionally promoting fraud with respect to the art it sells, an allegation the auction house denies.
