[intro]Convicted Art Fraudster Faces New Charges He Misled Another Investor in Same Painting[/intro]

As predicted by The New York Times, the FBI has now filed criminal charges against one of the owners of the Corot portrait lost late at night. The complaint accuse Doyle of defrauding a Japanese investor by misrepresenting the value of the painting. The investor paid Doyle $880,000 for an 80% share of the painting that Doyle claimed to have purchased for $1.1m and already had a buyer locked in. In truth, he bought the picture for $775,000 from a dealer in June and was still trying to find someone to take it off his hands.

Outside the courtroom, Mr. Doyle’s lawyer, Kevin Keating, said his client was frustrated because he did not have the painting and thought the authorities were using him in an effort to locate it. “This is a squeeze play,” Mr. Keating said. “The problem is they’re squeezing the wrong guy.” Ms. Trudgeon was in court and continued to support Mr. Doyle, despite his criminal past. Outside, she said she had nothing to do with the accusations against Mr. Doyle and believed he was innocent.

“Wake me up from a nightmare; we just want our painting back,” she blurted out when approached by a reporter. “There’s no co-conspirator,” she added. “Either Haggerty stole it or it’s lost.”

The oddest part of the story is that the FBI’s version of events would mean Kristyn Trudgeon had no ownership interest in the painting or that she too had been sold a share of the over-subscribed work.

Man Tied to Missing Art is Charged with Fraud (New York Times)