Virtual

The Art of Fraud: An international & cross-discipline panel of experts assess an art fraud case study

24 Mar 2021

Location: 4.00pm - 5.30pm Virtual Event (Zoom)
Members: Members: FREE - Book by 24 Mar

The Art of Fraud: An international & cross-discipline panel of experts assess an art fraud case study

Highlights

Let us paint you a picture… 

  • A case study…
  • An international and cross-discipline panel of experts….
  • An art fraud…

Join us on 24th March to delve into the art of the FIRE practitioner’s response… the bidding starts at 4pm GMT

*READ CASE STUDY HERE

Sandrine Giroud
Partner
LALIVE

Session: 2.40pm  A Game of Hide and Seek: Enforcing a Divorce Award


Sandrine Giroud
Sandrine Giroud Partner
LALIVE
John Cahill
Partner
Olsoff | Cahill | Cossu LLP

John Cahill
John Cahill Partner
Olsoff | Cahill | Cossu LLP
Sarah Charles
Director
Christie's

Sarah Charles
Sarah Charles Director
Christie's
Mark Emery
Director
DQ Advocates (Isle of Man)

Mark is a Director in DQ’s Dispute Resolution department, and heads DQ’s Insolvency & Restructuring team. Since qualifying as a Manx Advocate in 2012 Mark has regularly appeared at all levels of the Isle of Man High Court of Justice.

Mark practices a wide range of commercial litigation, but has particular experience in acting in commercial disputes (ranging from complex contractual disputes through to issuing proceedings seeking to secure and recover substantial assets such as private jets, yachts and properties held through Isle of Man companies), fraud & asset recovery, corporate insolvency, claims against directors, the appointment of receivers, applications for injunctive relief, trust disputes, enforcing foreign judgments and assisting with the recognition of foreign trustees in bankruptcy and obtaining of ancillary orders from the Isle of Man High Court.

Mark has been regularly ranked by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK, and is a member of the IFG (previously known as the Fraud Network), which is a handpicked group of specialist fraud lawyers across the world focused on securing injunctions, asset recovery and trust busting remedies in key offshore jurisdictions. Mark is a member of the Channel Islands & Isle of Man Committee of FIRE (Fraud. Insolvency. Recovery. Enforcement).

Recent public examples of Mark’s work include:

  1. Zedra Trust Company (Isle of Man) Limited As Trustee of the Eldoriange Trust – Successfully obtaining on an urgent basis the blessing by the Isle of Man High Court of a momentous decision by the trustee (pursuant to section 61 of the Trustee Act 1961) and beddoe relief in respect of responding to related court proceedings issued in the Isle of Man High Court by foreign bankruptcy trustees of the deceased settlor’s Estate (allegedly insolvent to the value of £40 million) seeking information from the trustee concerning an Isle of Man trust.
  2. Hannah Davie and Nicholas Stewart Wood (as Joint Trustees in Bankruptcy of Kamal Siddiqi, deceased) – Successfully obtaining the urgent recognition in the Isle of Man of English Joint Trustees in Bankruptcy in order to assist with ascertaining whether the Bankrupt had any interest in an Isle of Man company, suspected of owning English properties with a value of between £5-5.6 million.
  3. Fry, Shankland & Hyde (acting as Joint Trustees in Bankruptcy of Olena Tyschenko) v Baker Tilly Isle of Man Fiduciaries Limited – Acting for Baker Tilly in respect of the bankruptcy of a high-profile Ukrainian national. Baker Tilly were added by the English joint trustees in bankruptcy to recognition proceedings before the Isle of Man High Court of Justice, in circumstances where Baker Tilly required a court order in order to compel the production of certain confidential documentation with an ancillary order for the costs of compliance.

Mark Emery
Mark Emery Director
DQ Advocates (Isle of Man)
Robert Capper
Senior Managing Director
Ankura

Robert is the global head of Ankura’s Asset Tracing and Corporate Intelligence business.

Ankura is a leading provider of expert services across a range of investigative, legal, regulatory and economic issues. With over 2,000 practitioners in 35 offices across 11 jurisdictions, we combine global coverage with local knowledge. The Asset Tracing and Corporate Intelligence practice spans Ankura’s US, UK and UAE offices.

Robert’s clients include banks, investment funds, multinational companies and various international Government agencies. A particular focus of the team is high-value asset recovery cases involving sovereign states and former political leaders as well as collapsed investment funds and non-performing loan portfolios.

Prior to joining Ankura, Robert lead the consultancy asset tracing team at Burford Capital, the world’s largest litigation funder. Robert began his career with eight years working for the British Intelligence Services.

He has post graduate degrees from the University of Bristol and the University of Edinburgh.


Robert Capper
Robert Capper Senior Managing Director
Ankura
Benoît Mauron
Partner
LALIVE (Switzerland)

Benoît A. Mauron joined LALIVE in 2015. He practices in litigation, representing clients in both civil and criminal Swiss proceedings, with a focus on domestic and cross border commercial disputes and fraud litigation, including asset recovery. He is a member of the founding committee of FIRE Starters, an international platform for fraud, insolvency, recovery and enforcement practitioners and frequently represents the firm as a speaker on these topics.

Before joining LALIVE, Benoît A. Mauron worked as an associate in the dispute resolution group of a leading Swiss firm in Geneva (2012-2014) where he also trained (2010-2012).

He holds an LL.M. degree from Columbia Law School (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar with Honors, 2015) as well as a Master in Swiss law from the University of Lausanne (major in Business Law, magna cum laude, 2009). He is admitted to practise in Switzerland (2012) and in New York (2019).


Benoît Mauron
Benoît Mauron Partner
LALIVE (Switzerland)
Jon Felce
Partner
Cooke, Young & Keidan

Recognised by The Legal 500 as a “rising star” “headed for the very top”, and by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Elite Thought Leader for both Asset Recovery and Commercial Litigation, Jon specialises in high-value, complex international commercial disputes with particular expertise in civil fraud, enforcement and asset recovery (including both commercial and sovereign debt), and he has obtained a number of ground-breaking orders in this regard. Chambers & Partners describes Jon as “incredibly impressive” and “an incredible tactician”, recognising him for his civil fraud work. The Legal 500 has called Jon a “bright young gun with a shrewd mind and a calm approach” and states there is “complete trust and faith in Jon’s advice and his expertise”, recognising him as a leading individual for civil fraud, a next generation partner for banking litigation, and recommending him for premium commercial litigation, international arbitration and commodities disputes. Jon has an international practice with clients including states, financial institutions, corporate clients, high-net-worth individuals and insolvency practitioners, and has acted on a number of complex and high value Russian/CIS cases.


Jon Felce
Jon Felce Partner
Cooke, Young & Keidan
David Sleeman
Executive Director
Winston Art Group

David brings more than 16 years of experience in the art world to Winston Art Group.

Before coming to Winston Art Group, he was Senior Vice President of Business Development for nine years at a New York art advisory firm. Prior to that, he was Fine Art Specialist & Appraiser at Chubb in London, and he started his career in the Valuation, Tax & Heritage Department of Sotheby’s London. He holds a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Valuation & Estate Management and has a Diploma from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. David is on the Steering Committee of Professional Affiliates for the Appraisers Association of America, and has served on the Inland Marine Underwriting Association Arts and Records Committee. He lectures extensively around the country at museums, corporations, art fairs, and to private collectors. Additionally, he has taught at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, in New York.


David Sleeman
David Sleeman Executive Director
Winston Art Group

Agenda

3.55pm
Audience Logon
4.00pm
Chair's Opening Remarks
Speakers:
Benoît Mauron - Partner - LALIVE (Switzerland)
Jon Felce - Partner - Cooke, Young & Keidan
4.05pm
Practical Case Study Discussion
Speakers:
Sandrine Giroud - Partner - LALIVE
John Cahill - Partner - Olsoff | Cahill | Cossu LLP
Robert Capper - Senior Managing Director - Ankura
Mark Emery - Director - DQ Advocates (Isle of Man)
Jon Felce - Partner - Cooke, Young & Keidan
Benoît Mauron - Partner - LALIVE (Switzerland)
David Sleeman - Executive Director - Winston Art Group
Sarah Charles - Director - Christie's
5.05pm
Panel Q&A
5.20pm
Chair's Summation & Close of Event
Speakers:
Benoît Mauron - Partner - LALIVE (Switzerland)
Jon Felce - Partner - Cooke, Young & Keidan

Case Study

Mr Baia is a UHNWI with a personal interest in art but lacking special knowledge about the same, both about technical aspects and about the art market itself. Mr Sella is a reputable player in the art market, usually acting as an agent but also as an art dealer. Mr Sella agrees to sell some art to Mr Baia, however Mr Sella is acting as the undisclosed nominee/agent of Mr Oli Garch, whose wife is on the US sanctions list. Mr Baia pays Mr Sella a substantial deposit in USD, with the rest payable on delivery.

Mr Sella never provides the art to Mr Baia, giving one reason after another for the delay (amongst other saying it is stuck in the Geneva freeports). Mr Baia threatens to start proceedings against Mr Seller before the English courts. The threat of proceedings encourages Mr Sella to offer to settle the dispute by providing different art instead. Mr Baia agrees and is provided with the art, but he doesn’t verify its authenticity.

Mr Baia uses the art to get a loan from his friend Mr Len Der, with the art as collateral. Mr Len Der doesn’t verify its authenticity either. Mr Baia loses the money that was loaned to him so Mr Len Der looks to enforce against the collateral. Mr Baia and Mr Lender learn that the art Mr Sella has provided to Mr Baia is very likely unauthentic.

Mr Baia obtains a WFO from the English courts in support of proceedings he starts against Mr Sella. The English proceedings involve (i) seeking to void the settlement agreement with Mr Sella, and if that succeeds then (ii) claiming back the monies/the art that was never delivered. Mr Baia also initiates 28 USC § 1782 proceedings before US courts to trace the monies and obtain evidence in support of the English litigation.

In the course of the English proceedings, Mr Sella discloses that Mr Oli Garch supplied him with the fake art, that Mr Sella never received the original art from Mr Oli Garch despite Mr Sella passing on the money from Mr Baia to Mr Oli Garch. Mr Oli Garch received the original art from his deceased mother.

The parties want to join Mr Oli Garch to the proceedings. However, Mr Oli Garch had commenced a negative declaration before the Swiss courts when he was put on notice of the potential action.

Once Mr Oli Garch is joined to the proceedings, the trial proceeds. The first factual question is whether the settlement art is real or not.  The lack of authenticity is proven. The settlement is voided.  The claim for the monies/art is also proven.

Amongst their assets, Mr Oli Garch and Mr Sella hold art in trust structures in the Isle of Man. Post-judgment disclosure ensues against the Isle of Man trust structures. Disclosure shows that Mr Sella has art consigned with an auction house. It is about to be sold. Mr Baia proceeds with seeking to enforce the judgment against the art held through the Isle of Man structure. Mr Baia’s investigators also identify other assets held in offshore structures.

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Contact Us

If you are interested in this event and would like some more information before making your decision to attend please contact Danushka De Alwis on +44 2071 014191 or email danushka@thoughtleaders4.com