Con Ange is an Australian porn-shop millionaire. His wife, Mimi, liked art and bought a lot of it with cash that Ange had lying around from the business. When the Ange’s split up, Mrs. Ange tried to sell her paintings last May but at the last minute her husband got a court order that removed a chunk of auctioneer Tim Goodman’s sale. Very unhappy about that, Goodman sued and won:
Mrs Ange withdrew 22 paintings from the May 6 auction after her husband sought a court order, leaving auctioneer Tim Goodman minus a substantial chunk of his night’s list. Among the key works offered by Mrs Ange was Frederick McCubbin’s Midsummer Eve, which had been estimated to sell for up to $1.2 million, and works by Arthur Streeton, Norman Lindsay, Eugene von Guerard and Walter Withers. […] Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Victoria ordered Mrs Ange to pay First East Auction Holdings – former owners of Bonhams and Goodman, now trading as Sotheby’s Australia – a $731,280 withdrawal fee, interest of $36,000, and legal costs.
Mr. Ange may think this is all very funny. They’re in the midst of what seems like a bitter divorce. But the court had something extra for him. The Anges have been reported to Australia’s tax authority because so much of the art was bought with cash. The government wants an investigation to see if the art purchases were used to circumvent paying tax.
Big Pending Porn King’s $2m Marital Spat (The Age)
