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Morse Trial Reveals Salander Biz Practices

March 9, 2011 by Marion Maneker

No one is looking good in the trial of Leigh Morse, the former Salander gallery director accused of pocketing the proceeds of a sale to pay herself back commissions. Bloomberg’s resident Salander expert, Philip Boroff, reveals the way the Salander gallery worked in his coverage:

Salander was a “screamer” and “cruel and terrifying” to his 30 employees, Lankler said. He “zealously guarded” his relationships with the artist heirs, Lankler said.

Among the gallery’s clients were the estate of Robert De Niro Sr., a painter who died in 1993 and was the actor’s father. In May 2007, with the gallery deep in debt partly because of what Kern called Salander’s “almost messianic devotion” to acquiring Renaissance art by the planeload, Morse sold three De Niro Sr. paintings to San Francisco’s Hackett-Freedman Gallery for $77,000.

Two works were owned by the actor, according to court papers. The $77,000 was wired to Morse’s personal bank account. The prosecution said she orchestrated the sale and kept proceeds without De Niro’s knowledge and was entitled only to a fraction of the sum as a commission.

Lankler said Morse was victimized by the gallery herself and was owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. She had received back commissions directly from sales proceeds before, he said.

For the prosecution to prove grand larceny, “she would have to know that Larry in his head would never, ever pay Robert De Niro,” Lankler said.

Robert De Niro to Testify as Ex-Salander Employee Starts Trial for Fraud (Bloomberg)

 

Salander's Indiscriminate Taste

June 10, 2010 by Marion Maneker

Philip Boroff is Bloomberg‘s Salander specialist and he covers the sale of the disgraced art dealer’s stock that fell short of estimates.

The total yesterday fell short of the $2.3 million presale low estimate. More than a third of the art didn’t sell, which dealers and art consultants attributed as much to Salander’s habit of buying in bulk — indiscriminately, some say — as to European economic turbulence.

Salander, 61, who pleaded guilty in March to a $120 million art fraud, is free on $1 million bail. He could be sentenced to as much as 18 years in prison, Justice Michael Obus said then. He’s due to appear in court next on June 23. He didn’t attend the auction.Continue Reading

Salander Gives In

March 18, 2010 by Marion Maneker

The New York Post claims that Lawrence Salander plans to plead guilty and make restitution in the fraud cases against him:

When Salander returns to court for sentencing later this year, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus will determine his prison term — a maximum of 6 to 18 years under the deal — based on how much he has managed to pay back, Ross said. Salander faced 25 years if convicted of the charges.

“This is a good result for him, and for the people whom he is deeply remorseful and sorry about hurting,” the lawyer said yesterday.

“The financial side is not my strong suit,” he told The Post from Rikers Island last year — before he could scrape together a $1 million bail bond.

Gallery Boss Will Plead Guilty in $100m Art Fraud (NY Post)

Fraud Insurance

March 18, 2010 by Marion Maneker

The Philadelphia Museum made a bad deal with Lawrence Salander, now they want their insurance company to pay $1.5m to cover the loss of works by Maurice Prendergast and Arthur B. Davies, reports Bob Warner in the Philadelphia Enquirer:

Dueling lawsuits – one filed in Maryland by the museum, the other filed in Manhattan by its insurer, AXA Art Insurance Corp. – agree on the basic facts in the Art Museum case.

In September 2006 – about two weeks after taking possession of the two museum paintings – Salander sold the Prendergast painting, “The Harbor,” for $1.5 million to another New York gallery.Continue Reading

Salander Sale Scheduled for June

March 15, 2010 by Marion Maneker

In a lengthy story on Bloomberg that recaps much of what is already known about the wranglings surrounding the Salander-O’Reilly bankruptcy sale, Philip Boroff notes that a sale will likely take place in June.

The sale can proceed because of concessions made by a secured creditor, First Republic Bank:

U.S. Bankruptcy Court in January approved a settlement between unsecured creditors and Bank of America Corp.’s First Republic unit that cleared the way for an auction. First Republic lent the gallery about $30 million starting in 2002. “The bank had every right to be paid back first from the proceeds of art,” Feinstein said in the interview, citing loan documents.

The bank made “significant concessions” after lawyers for unsecured creditors investigated its relationship with the gallery and threatened to sue, Feinstein said. “We were trying to understand whether the bank knew he was involved in inappropriate behavior,” he said. “And whether it did anything to facilitate it.”

Feinstein wouldn’t say what unsecured creditors found.Continue Reading

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