Law, crime and regulation

Mayfair art agent Timothy Sammons is facing a string of legal claims over soured multi-million-pound deals in the United Kingdom and the United States involving paintings by Van Gogh, Canaletto, Picasso, Chagall, Modigliani and Magritte.

Six paintings consigned to Gorringes of Lewes, East Sussex, have been returned to the Amsterdam Museum after being identified as those stolen from the Dutch institution over 40 years ago.

A leading CITES lawyer has criticised DEFRA’s “wholesale failure” to alert the public to law changes, after a court fined a jeweller £2000 for selling antique tiger claw pendants.

A group of restituted paintings were among the highlights of a robust series of Impressionist and Modern art auctions in London.

Art dealer David Carter has admitted intentionally selling fake paintings purporting to be by well-known Cornish artists. He has pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud at Truro crown court and may face jail.

Sotheby’s and Christie’s have well-established specialist departments for brokering deals on sale of Nazi-looted works returned to rightful heirs. Over the last decade some major pieces of Impressionist and Modern art have come to auction as a result of restitution settlements.

“The ivory ban has been a right old dampener on the market as a whole but after taking time to consider its implications, collectors are coming back.”

Online sellers who use eBay are the focus of fresh attempts by HM Revenue & Customs to crack down on tax evasion.

The US Court of Appeals has ruled that the California Resale Royalty Act (CRRA) can stand but apply only to sales made within the state and not to those made out-of-state by California residents.

The third annual ‘Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Symposium’ will be held in New York on June 4-6.

More than 60 artefacts stolen from English and Welsh country churches over the past few years have been recovered by police after they were alerted by a collector.

Eight men have been charged in connection with the Hatton Garden heist following 12 coordinated raids across London and Kent by officers from Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad.

A judge has hailed the “professionalism and integrity” of members of the trade who helped snare a thief who stole antiques and art from her wealthy employer.

The Conservative Party Manifesto pledges to “press for a total ban on ivory sales” despite recent assurances from the Government that they would not damage the legitimate antiques trade.

A significant reward is being offered for the recovery of 125 watches stolen from an antiques store in north London.

Four lots were withdrawn at the eleventh hour by Christie’s last week amid fresh allegations in the media over illicit antiquities at auction.

A career criminal who stole more than £700,000 worth of Fabergé items and sold them to a crack dealer for just £100 has been jailed for 28 months.

Dealers in London’s jewellery quarter are still waiting to discover if they were among the victims of the theft at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit.

Antique dealers, collectors, auctioneers and museum representatives gathered in Connecticut last month to oppose a bill seeking a total and uncompromising ban on the sale of ivory.