The business partner of convicted art dealer INIGO PHILBRICK, ROBERT NEWLAND, was sentenced to 20 months in prison on 09/20/23 in connection with a multi-year scheme to defraud various individuals and entities in order to finance PHILBRICK's art business, according to a statement released by Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Sydney H. Stein, a U.S. District Judge, handed down the punishment today.
"Robert Newland helped Inigo Philbrick commit one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated in the art market," stated U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. Philbrick and Newland took advantage of the opaque nature of the art market to deceive lenders, investors, and collectors by selling or pledging as collateral over 100% of multiple artworks, all while lying about the true ownership interests of the pieces. As Philbrick's financial advisor, Newland gave the impression that his art company was legitimate, but in actuality, he helped to keep the scam going. The punishment imposed today warns those who assist in art market fraud that they will suffer dire repercussions.
Based on the claims presented in the Indictment, Complaint, and declarations made during the hearing:
PHILBRICK participated in a plot to defraud several people and organizations in the art market in the New York metropolitan region and overseas from roughly 2016 to 2019 in order to finance his art company (the “Fraud Scheme”). As PHILBRICK's financial advisor and business partner, NEWLAND planned the Fraud Scheme with PHILBRICK. In order to gain access to priceless art and to receive finance, loans, and sales revenues, NEWLAND and PHILBRICK materially misrepresented and omitted information from lenders, investors, and art collectors. NEWLAND and PHILBRICK intentionally misrepresented who owned some artworks. For instance, they sold an artwork to multiple people or organizations without the other owners' knowledge, sold artworks and/or used artworks as collateral for loans without the other owners' knowledge, and failed to disclose to buyers and lenders the ownership interests of other parties.
In conjunction with the fraud scheme, PHILBRICK received about $86 million in loans and sale earnings over time. A number of artworks were fraudulently misrepresented by NEWLAND and PHILBRICK. These included the untitled painting "Humidity" by Jean-Michel Basquiat from 1982, the untitled painting "Christopher Wool" from 2010 and the untitled painting "Rodolf Stingel" from 2012 that showed Pablo Picasso.
When several lenders and investors discovered that PHILBRICK and NEWLAND had committed serious misrepresentations and omissions, their fraudulent scheme came to an end in the fall of 2019.
NEWLAND, 46, of the United Kingdom, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, which includes 200 hours of community service per year. This was in addition to his prison term. In addition, NEWLAND was mandated to pay the following assets and a forfeiture of $76,000: (i) Carroll Dunham's painting Personal Distance A, measuring 96.5 x 124.5 cm (49 x 38 in.); (ii) Christopher Wool's untitled 2016 oil and etching painting, measuring 19 x 15 cm (7.5 x 6 in.), with a paper size of 41.3 x 35.6 cm (16.24 x 14 in.); (iii) Wade Guyton's untitled 2007 print, measuring 213.36 x 175.26 cm (83.21 x 68.35 in.); and (iv) a Jean Prouvé desk, measuring H 72 x L 160 x P 71.5 cm. Furthermore, NEWLAND was mandated to reimburse the victims for a total of $67,489,808.
On November 18, 2021, PHILBRICK, 35, a US citizen who had previously lived in the UK, entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud. Sidney L. Stein, the U.S. District Judge, sentenced Philip to seven years in prison and two years of supervised release on May 23, 2022. Additionally, PHILBRICK was mandated to pay $86,672,790 in forfeiture and $82,592,367 in reparation.
Mr. Williams commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Art Crime Team for their investigative efforts.
The Office's Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit is in charge of this case. The prosecution is led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica K. Feinstein and Cecilia E. Vogel.
Seen in Justice.gov
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