Art Dealer Nabbed in $88 Million Swindle
It appears to be game over for Manhattan art dealer and gallery owner Lawrence Salander, who was arrested Thursday morning and accused of stealing $88 million from various art world players, institutions and investors, including tennis champ John McEnroe. Actor Robert De Niro, pictured above next to an image of his artist-father, is accusing Salander of stealing 12 of the senior De Niro's paintings.
It appears to be game over for Manhattan art dealer and gallery owner Lawrence Salander, who was arrested Thursday morning and accused of stealing $88 million from various art world players, institutions and investors, including tennis champ John McEnroe.
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…AP via Google News:
Lawrence B. Salander used the money to try to corner the Renaissance art market and to support an extravagant lifestyle that included private jet travel, a lavish party for his wife at New York’s Frick Collection museum, and the purchase and maintenance of his Manhattan town house and a 66-acre estate, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.
Morgenthau said Salander defrauded a total of 26 victims in two primary ways:
In one, he sold artwork not owned by him and kept the money. The district attorney said Salander sometimes sold a piece of art owned by someone else several times.
“Why sell it just once when you can sell it three times?” Morgenthau said.
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