Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev has filed a $380 million lawsuit against international auction house Sotheby\u2019s for allegedly aiding Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier in conducting what Rybolovlev calls the \u201clargest art fraud in history\u201d. The suit has its roots in a 10-year, 38-painting deal between Rybolovlev and Bouvier worth over $2 billion in total, which the former claims featured massively inflated prices in order to line the pockets of the latter.<\/p>\n
Rybolovlev amassed a fortune believed to be worth almost $7 billion from making fertiliser in post-Soviet era Russia. He is the owner of AS Monaco football club and reportedly purchased an expansive home in Florida from President Donald Trump for $95 million. Over a decade ago, he was connected to art dealer Bouvier, who oversaw the purchase of 38 classic paintings by artists such as Gustav Klimt, Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso.<\/p>\n
However, Rybolovlev has since contended that Bouvier sold him the pieces for values far higher than those he himself paid \u2013 and that Sotheby\u2019s knew about the discrepancy. In this latest lawsuit, Rybolovlev accuses Sotheby\u2019s of lending Bouvier \u201ca veneer of legitimacy\u201d by failing to include transaction histories on the paintings in question and tacitly approving of Bouvier\u2019s new valuations.<\/p>\n