British Art Dealing Couple Decamps to France Amid Claims of Fraud
- August 03, 2015 20:42
Police are investigating claims of fraud and theft involving a gallery run by a pair of prominent British art dealers who are believed to have sold their business and moved to France, reports the Independent.
Buyers are said to chasing more than half a million pounds of sales including work by artists such as Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn and Andy Warhol, claiming that they bought works from the art dealers Donald Smith and Emma Poole that were never delivered. Other debts are also under investigation.
The couple sold the Opus Art gallery in Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds and reportedly settled in the south of France with their young child.
100x100_c.jpg "Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype action figure, predecessor to the Boba Fett figure in Kenner’s popular 1979 Star Wars toy line, 3.75in tall, AFA-graded 80+ NM (archival case). Encapsulated with notarized CIB COA. Sold for a world-record price of $236,000 against an estimate of $100,000-$200,000")
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
