A federal jury on Tuesday ruled in favor of Sotheby’s in a case in which Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev accused the auction house of defrauding him of tens of millions of dollars from art sales.
Mr. Rybolovlev claimed that Sotheby’s colluded with Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier to sell four items, including the Christ statue “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci, which will be the most expensive piece of art to be sold at auction. accused him of deceiving him into paying inflated prices for his works.
Sotheby’s, a privately held company, has long maintained that it had no knowledge that Mr. Bouvier might have lied and was not responsible for its dealings with Mr. Rybolovlev.
Bouvier is not a defendant and maintains he did nothing wrong.
Rybolovlev, 57, made his fortune from potash fertilizer and is worth $6.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine. He is also the majority owner of soccer team AS Monaco, but is reportedly considering selling it this year.
Rybolovlev’s lawyer, Daniel Cornstein, said the lawsuit “achieved our goal of shining a light on the lack of transparency plaguing the art market.” That secrecy made it difficult to prove complex cases of aiding and abetting fraud. ”
Sotheby’s said the verdict reaffirms its commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity, ethics and professionalism and reflects the “clear lack of evidence” that it had defrauded Rybolovlev. Ta.
The case is one of the most high-profile art fraud disputes in recent years and offers a glimpse into a secretive industry where wealthy buyers sometimes don’t know who they’re buying from.
Jurors in Manhattan federal court took less than a day to reach their verdict in a trial that lasted about three weeks.
Last March, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ordered Rybolovlev to pursue a fraud lawsuit over works by da Vinci and Gustav Klimt, René Magritte and Amedeo Modigliani.
Mr. Rybolovlev initially sued Mr. Bouvier for more than 15 world-class works of art for which he had paid more than $1 billion, accusing Mr. Bouvier of claiming hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden price increases.
Mr. Furman dismissed claims based on fraud against 11 other works, including works by Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Rybolovlev was allowed to sue over “Salvator Mundi” even though his ownership was found to be unusually profitable.
According to court documents, Bouvier bought Da Vinci in 2013 for $83 million and sold it to Rybolovlev the next day for $127.5 million.
Rybolovlev sold Salvator Mundi at Christie’s in 2017 for $450.3 million, a record price for a work of art at auction.
The case is Accent Delight International Ltd. et al. v. Sotheby’s et al., United States District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 18-09011.
