ART RIP OFF SHOWDOWN: Auction House Sotheby Sued by Russian Oligarch for Abetting Art Sales Fraud Now Trial Starting January 8

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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, January 4 –  Sotheby's defrauded two British Virgin Islands companies controlled by Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, the companies alleged in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that Inner City Press first reported on in 2020. It involved inflated art prices.

On July 15, 2020 SDNY Judge Jesse M. Furman held a proceeding. Inner City Press covered it.  

While the lengthy conference had a series of discovery issues, there was also discussion of a settlement.

And Judge Furman ordered that defendants "shall submit a copy of the settlement agreement by email to the Court for in camera review."

Jump cut to January 4, 2024, the Thursday before a Monday trial to last the rest of the month. Plaintiff's counsel argued to have the BVI company, Accent Delight International, listed in the Sotheby's opening demonstratives, and that no reference be made to Rybolovlev's "lieutenant," saying that term connotes organized crime.

Judge Furman denied the motion, saying it mostly connotes the military. He granted Sotheby's motion to bar plaintiffs from saying some 2012 pay records were withheld or even missing, saying it should be "unavailable."

The nine jurors are to be selected on January 8, barring settlement, and Inner City Press intends to cover the trial.

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