Arrested Conman Who Tried To Swindle Sotheby’s

Hard times for some Milanese entrepreneurs involved in dodgy affairs. Last month the Carabinieri Unit of Cortona (Arezzo) arrested a Milanese entrepreneur caught with an important booty – 42 sketches by Picasso and two volumes by Leonardo da Vinci. Now it is the turn of another entrepreneur who will have to answer for attempted extortion to the detriment of Sotheby’s. A financial consultant, in crisis due to economic problems, tried to blackmail the renowned and prestigious auction house Sotheby’s hoping to pocket 800 thousand euros. And which better victim than a prestigious institution for the art market, which every day proposes and sells on behalf of third parties marvellous masterpieces and extremely valuable objects?
It all started last March. The swindle was conceived by the former partner of the entrepreneur who had put up for auction a work, “Piccolo Cavaliere” by Marino Marini, sold in London on 15th October 2007 for 782 thousand pounds, equivalent to one million 117 thousand euros. The man made his first step by sending a letter with intent of extortion, from Lugano to Rome, addressed to Filippo Lotti, director of Sotheby’s Italy. In the letter the man, in no uncertain terms, wrote that he knew that the work was a fake and that Sotheby’s had not carried out rigorous checks, therefore he threatened to report the fact, thus discrediting the good reputation of the auction house.
Clearly the objective was to have 800 thousand euros accredited to an account specifically opened in Singapore, in exchange for his silence, or else he would have spread the news slandering the auction house in front of its many collectors and potential buyers.
However, the director of Sotheby’s, confident about his work and about the auction house, certain of the authenticity of the sculpture (confirmed also by the expertise given by the Foundation Marino Marini of Pistoia, the only one entitled to give it), did not even take into consideration the blackmail and he binned the letter.
On the other hand, his challenger, having more and more difficulties, was not discouraged in front of the desire to get so much money and therefore he continued sending e-mails with intent of extortion to the British firm, using false online accounts opened on Italian, Swiss and American servers and harbouring with yearning his swindle. At that point Sotheby’s, having received a string of e-mails of doubtful provenance and definitely in bad faith, carried out new assessments on the certification of the object in question, reconfirming its professionalism. The persistence of the letters with intent of extortion sent to Sotheby’s premises in Rome, London and New York, from the address mmfalse@hotmail.com, convinced director Lotti to report the fact to the Carabinieri who kicked off the conman hunt.
Given the false identities of the shrewd impostor on the web, the work of the police force was delicate and complex; however, it allowed them to trace down the real sender in about three months. The investigation ended with the arrest of a 45-year-old Italian entrepreneur, IT expert, with a clean record and resident in the province of Milan, who aware that he had been uncovered immediately confessed without opposing resistance. Sotheby’s and its clients can sleep soundly.