German Art Advisor Achenbach Gets 6-Year Prison Term

  • March 16, 2015 11:31

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Cover of the book Helge Achenbach, Der Kunstanstifter (English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3677-0)

A district court in Essen has found the once-prominent German art advisor Helge Achenbach guilty on 18 counts of fraud. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison for overcharging his wealthy clients millions of euros for artwork.

Known as a gregarious networker and for his lavish lifestyle, Achenbach, 62, was arrested in June 2014 after a trip to Brazil where he had just installed an art collection for the German football team.

Since 1973, Achenbach had been forming collections for a long list of corporate and private clients, ranging from Volkswagen to Kraft Foods.

He was convicted in Düsseldorf earlier this year of overcharging the late Berthold Albrecht, heir of the Aldi supermarket chain, and ordered to pay the Albrecht family about 20 million euros. Liquidators say Achenbach barely has 6 million euros in art assets to repay his clients.

Read more at DW


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