NEW YORK – A prominent Manhattan art dealer may have duped art galleries worldwide out of more than $50 million before fleeing the country, according to a report Thursday.
Sotherby’s confirmed that the art dealer, Mr. M. C., possibly swindled more than $50 million from galleries worldwide owed them nearly $10 million in loans for the purchase of four paintings by Picasso and Marc Chagall.
According to the report on Forbes.com, other art galleries in the United States and Europe were also taken in by Mr. M. C. The grand total could soar as high as $75 million, the report said.
“We have done business with that art dealer for a number of years, and we were absolutely shocked when he failed to repay his debts,” said Diana Phillips, a Sotheby’s spokeswoman.
In the case of Sotheby’s, the art dealer received loans totaling $9.9 million for the purchase of paintings for resale — two Picassos and two Chagalls. He was due to repay the loans at the end of December, but failed to make any payment and refused to divulge the location of the paintings.
Sotheby’s filed a lawsuit against him in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Jan. 23. The suit was also filed in California, where the art dealer had another residence.
The French-born Mr. M. C., originally opened shop as an art dealer in California in the 1980s, but eventually opened his own gallery on Madison Avenue. His work brokering the sale of paintings by Chagall made him a multi-millionaire.
But according to the Forbes report, M. C. was a stock market player who lost his money there before the alleged art scandal began. He may now be in Cuba, Forbes reported.
Jim Margolin, an FBI spokesman, said authorities were aware of his case but that no criminal charges had been filed. Phillips declined to comment on whether Sotheby’s would press charges against the art dealer.
“As is clear from the number of victims in the case, the art world operates on trust,” Phillips said. “Even the tightest contract is at risk if someone you have worked with for a long time betrays that trust.”
