Law, crime and regulation

AUCTIONEERS and dealers should be wary of an absentee buyer who offers to pay by BACS and then have goods collected by taxi.

Just days after Sotheby’s announced the sale of a 16th century ivory mask and five other works from the Kingdom of Benin, the auctioneers said they have been withdrawn.

DO light, sound and video installations constitute works of art? Not according to the European Commission, who have unexpectedly reversed a decision made in a UK tax tribunal in 2008, and refused to classify works by established contemporary artists Dan Flavin (b.1933) and Bill Viola (b.1951) as “art”.

A SALE at the Hotel Drouot in Paris devoted to minor works by Picasso was called off at the last minute because of controversy over provenance.

THE U.S. Supreme Court in Washington has delivered a significant blow to Tiffany & Co’s bid to stop the sale of counterfeit jewellery on eBay.

THE danger of taking commission on deals without the express knowledge of the vendor has been underlined by a High Court ruling. In it, a London dealer has been told that he was not entitled to keep a $1m commission he retained following the sale of a Leonardo da Vinci drawing in August 2007.

IN the week when dealer John Hobbs was due to meet his former restorer a London court, Dreweatts have announced they will be selling his stock at auction in December.

It could be less than a month until the date is named when antiquities dealer Malcolm Hay will be extradited to serve a four-year jail sentence in Greece – on the strength of no credible evidence.

DEALERS are being warned that they could be targeted by credit card fraud after a noticeable increase in cloned American Express cards.

YOU’D have thought he’d be glad to see the back of it. But duped art dealer David Smith of Neptune Fine Art has bought back the fake Lowry picture he originally purchased for £330,000.

POLICE are appealing for help after a swathe of established regional salerooms were hit by a major credit card fraud last month. Victims are now recommending the adoption of a new protocol for regional auctioneers when conducting ‘cardholder not present’ credit card transactions.

BONHAMS withdrew 16 lots, with a combined top estimate in excess of £200,000, from last Wednesday’s Bond Street furniture sale after they had good reason to believe the consignor was connected with disgraced ex-BADA dealer John Hobbs.

PICTURED here is one of more than 100 polychrome Delft tiles, valued at hundreds of thousands of pounds, stolen from a leading collector in the Netherlands.

HAVING appeared to wash their hands of their obligation to undertake a study of the effect of the Artist’s Resale Right, the European Commission has finally agreed that they will look into the matter early in 2011.

THE Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have issued further important guidelines regarding the sale of antique rhinoceros horn.

THREE people have been arrested in Germany in connection with a multi-million pound art fraud involving a number of apparently major 20th century oils sold on the international market in recent years.

A NEW strict liability rule under the Bribery Act exposes companies to prosecution if they do not put necessary procedures in place to police those acting on their behalf.

A COLLECTION of 11 antique violin bows valued at £110,000 is now feared stolen after they were left on a train.

SHOWGROUND fair dealers are reminded to be vigilant after a visitor to the recent Newark fair had his pockets slashed.