If you remember the case of Tatiana Khan, the Los Angeles dealer who admitted having a Picasso drawing faked so she could sell it for $2 million, you might be interested to read about the follow up case. In this one, the buyer, Victor Sands, is suing Jack and Leslie Kavanaugh. Sands foolishly relied on Kavanaugh’s advice to buy the fake Picasso and several other real paintings for $6 million. But Kavanaugh was getting kickbacks from Khan.
Here are quotes from the complaint cited by the Courthouse News Service:
“While the Kavanaughs continue to live a life of ostentatious opulence, complete with a multi-million dollar Brentwood home filled with their collection of fine art, fine wine and a Ferrari in the driveway, a portion of which has been undoubtedly underwritten by Sands, himself, Sands has been left to seek redress from the court,” according to the complaint.
[…] Khan paid the Kavanaughs an $800,000 kickback disguised as a “loan,” according to the complaint. […]
Jack also convinced Sands to buy paintings he claimed were by Marc Chagall, Willem de Kooning and Pierre Auguste Renoir, and “represented outstanding investment opportunities that were sure to earn Sands a substantial return on his initial investment,” according to the complaint
Sands says he overpaid for the Chagall, which is authentic but not would never fetch the $1 million that Jack promised. He adds that the de Kooning and Renoir were never delivered to him, and he was never refunded the $175,000 deposits that he paid. Sands sued the Kavanaughs and 21 unknown defendants for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, misrepresentation, conversion and breach of contract.
Trustee Says He Paid $2m for a Fake Picasso (Courthouse News Service)
