Law, crime and regulation

TAXES lost to the US government during the American side of the Sotheby’s/Christie’s price-fixing settlement can be retrieved by the British trade say the US company trading in auction house class action certificates.

The antiques trade are being alerted to a new online fraud after at least three dealers were targeted last week. Overpayment fraud, as it is known, is the latest in a series of Internet-based payment frauds aimed at retailers with a website presence.

New laws to benefit the disabled due to come into force later this year will have implications for antique shops, centres and auction houses. The Disability Discrimination Act, covering all shops and service providers, irrespective of size, requires companies and venue managers to improve access and facilities for wheelchair users from October 1.

TRANSPORT for London have begun the first stage of a public consultation on the proposal to effectively double the area of coverage of the London congestion charging system. The proposal suggests extending the current zone westwards from Park Lane to include most of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster where many of the city’s art and antique dealers are based.

Five early 18th century ivory relief portraits by celebrated carver David Le Marchand stolen from the Art Gallery of Ontario on January 17 have been recovered.

A MASKED gang took a substantial quantity of antique jewellery during a robbery at the Petersfield Antiques Fair held at the Festival Hall in the town from February 6-8.

THE new money laundering regulations come into force next month, creating new legal requirements for auctioneers and dealers who wish to accept large cash payments from their clients.

New company threatens duped dealers: The many victims of the misleading fair guides that landed dealers and auctioneers with bills for hundreds of pounds are being contacted again by an aggressive overseas debt collection company.

Paris auctioneer Jean-Claude Binoche has been charged with fraud in connection with the sale of three pictures in 1995. Binoche, 61, is accused of buying two works himself at an auction he staged on 18 October 1995, which is illegal under French law, and of selling another work after the sale (a Prud’hon drawing, to the Beaux-Arts museum in Dijon). After-sales were illegal in France at the time, although they have been permitted since 2001.

VENDORS of classic cars in a December sale held by Coys of Kensington (Sales) Limited face losing at least three quarters of their settlement as the firm ceased trading.

UK: The BADA have issued a description of a woman, operating under a number of names, thought to be responsible for a number of thefts at antiques shops in London. Last week, dealers in Kensington Church Street and in the Fulham Road were taken in by the woman, whose approach was most unusual.

Measures would not restrict art trade: BRITAIN may soon enjoy one of the most enlightened schemes for keeping key works of art in the country, thanks to the Goodison Review, which has just been published.

Ebay are warning their users to be vigilant after users of PayPal fell victim to a hi-tech scam in November and December. Many received a replicating virus that, camouflaged as an email from the online payment provider, tried to trick the recipient into sending sensitive information.

HOPES of establishing a national database of stolen art have taken a significant step forward. MPs on the parliamentary committee who recommended the database be set up three years ago gave the project a new boost after publicly criticising the Government for failing to act despite promises to do so.

FRANCE’S new auction watchdog has flexed its muscles for the first time, banning two paintings – one attributed to Van Gogh, the other to Toulouse-Lautrec – from sale on suspicion of being fakes.

By a vote of 9-6 the member states of the European Union opted to shelve plans to change current laws relating to the hallmarking of precious metals. The decision not to proceed with the controversial Precious Metals Directive, taken on November 21, was welcomed by British hallmarkers, anxious to preserve one of the nation’s earliest forms of consumer protection.

ARTS Minister Estelle Morris will hold a seminar for the trade on the new UK measures to restrict the illicit trade in cultural objects. Slated for January 15 in the BP Lecture Theatre, at the Clore Education Centre of the British Museum, the session will see Miss Morris give a presentation on the UK implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 and the new Money Laundering Regulations.

AUCTIONEERS may be forced to change the way they catalogue objects if a High Court ruling goes against them next year.

LAPADA have set up an email alert system to warn members about fraudsters after an indepth investigation by the association led to a serial offender being caught and jailed. John Alderson of Seattle was convicted in the USA and has just been sentenced to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He must also pay restitution of $146,000 to victims.

THE Chicago Clearing Corporation, the US traders in class action certificates, are to visit London again to buy and sell the vouchers issued following the Christie’s/Sotheby’s collusion case settlement.