Crime London Galleries Ordered to Return a $1.2 Million Chagall to a U.S. Collector Swindled by Disgraced Dealer Ezra Chowaiki Chowaiki only handed over $900,000 of the $1.2 million purchase price to the client, pocketing the rest. By Sarah Cascone, May 11, 2022
Crime The Feds Indict Two Detroit Brothers and a Florida Man in a Long-Running Forgery Scheme Peddling Fake Art and Sports Memorabilia The men hawked works by purportedly by Gertrude Abercrombie, George Ault, and others from 2005 to 2020. By Eileen Kinsella, Apr 27, 2022
Crime Hackers Broke Into Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Official Instagram and Made Off With Nearly $3 Million Worth of Stolen NFTs It's not the first time hackers have targeted apes. By Eileen Kinsella, Apr 26, 2022
Crime Did Two Schoolteachers Pull Off the Heist of a Major de Kooning? A Documentary Explores Their Possible Double Lives Jerry and Rita Alter and their apparent penchant for high-stakes art crime are the subject of a new documentary. By Sarah Cascone, Apr 7, 2022
Crime Inigo Philbrick’s Lawyers Make a Last-Ditch Appeal for Leniency, With Testimonials From Gilbert & George and a Camp Counselor Seventeen friends and family members have written letters of support on the incarcerated dealer's behalf. By Eileen Kinsella, Apr 4, 2022
Auctions Fugitive Billionaire Joseph Lau Will Auction Off Millions of Dollars in Art and Wine to Make Up for Stock Market Losses Lau is selling off eight pieces of Chinese imperial porcelain at Sotheby's, plus rare wines at Christie's. By Sarah Cascone, Apr 4, 2022
NFTs Police Arrest Two 20-Year-Olds for Allegedly Conning Collectors Out of $1 Million—With Ice Cream-Themed NFT Artworks The pair sold NFTs for 8,888 ice cream scoop characters called Frosties—and then disappeared. By Sarah Cascone, Mar 28, 2022
Law U.S. Authorities Have Indicted a Superblue Sales Director as an Alleged Conspirator of Disgraced Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick Just weeks before Inigo Phibrick is set to appear in court for sentencing, a new indictment has been made in the art fraud case. By Eileen Kinsella, Mar 2, 2022
Law The U.S. Treasury Department Has Issued a Closely Watched Report on Money Laundering. The Upshot: Nothing to See Here, Folks The U.S. government is taking a risk-based "wait and see" approach to the art market. By Eileen Kinsella, Feb 7, 2022
NFTs ‘All My Apes Gone’: An Art Dealer’s Despondent Tweet About the Theft of His NFTs Went Viral… and Has Now Become an NFT The stolen trove was worth an estimated $2.2 million. The NFT of the tweet is going for a lot less. By Eileen Kinsella, Jan 5, 2022
Politics Former U.K. Culture Minister Says the Parthenon Marbles Should Be Returned to Greece: ‘It Would Be a Wonderful Thing’ Ed Vaizey says the marbles are inextricably woven into Greek culture and identity. By Sarah Cascone, Dec 22, 2021
Law FBI Agents Descend on Palm Beach’s Upscale Worth Avenue in a Late-Morning Raid of the Gallery Danieli Fine Art Art dealers and other business owners watched with interest as FBI and IRS agents papered over the gallery windows. By Eileen Kinsella & Katya Kazakina, Dec 15, 2021
Law Jailed Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick Has Pleaded Guilty to Fraud and Will Turn Over More Than $86 Million in Funds Linked to His Crimes Philbrick also faces up to 20 years in prison. By Eileen Kinsella, Nov 18, 2021
Crime In a Shift, Notorious Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick Set to Plead Guilty to Criminal Charges in Federal Court This Week It remains to be seen what type of prison sentence is handed down. By Eileen Kinsella, Nov 1, 2021
Law Will Disgraced Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick Avoid Trial After All? Court Papers Suggest He Could Be in Settlement Talks With U.S. Authorities After initially pleading not guilty, Philbrick may now be trying to strike a deal. By Eileen Kinsella, Oct 13, 2021
