Lisa Schiff, a distinguished artwork adviser who was accused of swindling her shoppers out of thousands and thousands of {dollars}, pleaded responsible to at least one rely of wire fraud in a New York courtroom on Thursday.
Schiff was the topic of two lawsuits final 12 months wherein collectors accused her of defrauding them. She filed for chapter in January, with practically $7 million allegedly owed to galleries, storage amenities, and extra, in response to paperwork processed on the time.
“For years, Lisa Schiff breached the belief of her artwork advisory shoppers by mendacity to them and diverting thousands and thousands of {dollars} her shoppers had entrusted to her,” mentioned US lawyer Damian Williams in an announcement. “As a substitute of utilizing consumer funds as promised, Schiff used the stolen cash to fund a lavish way of life. Right now’s responsible plea serves as a reminder that the Southern District of New York will vigorously examine and prosecute those that interact in fraud wherever we could discover them, together with the artwork market.”
Associated Articles
The courtroom’s launch mentioned that Schiff had agreed to forfeit $6.4 million. The rely of wire fraud to which she pleaded responsible carries a most jail sentence of 20 years. Her sentencing has been scheduled for January.
Each lawsuits towards Schiff have been filed in 2023. Within the first, collector Candace Carmel Barasch and Richard Grossman claimed that Schiff had assisted them within the sale of an Adrian Ghenie portray and that she nonetheless owed them $1.8 million. Within the second, Barasch and her husband Michael alleged that that they had offered Schiff with $6.6 million, with the aim of utilizing it to purchase artwork. The Barasches and Grossman mentioned they by no means acquired these items, and Schiff allegedly used the cash to fund “luxurious journey, buying sprees, and the like, or to pay obligations owed to different shoppers, or to buy artworks for different shoppers,” in response to that go well with.
Previous to these lawsuits, Schiff was one of many preeminent artwork advisers primarily based in New York. Her consumer listing had at one level included the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Schiff has since shuttered her agency, SFA Advisory.
Progressively, works held by that advisory have been auctioned off, with some earmarked on the market at Phillips subsequent month. The works set for the Phillips sale are by artists corresponding to Damien Hirst, Judy Chicago, and Richard Prince, and have been given a collective estimate of $2 million.
The Southern District of New York’s launch about Schiff’s responsible plea specified that she “defrauded at the least twelve shoppers, one artist, the property of one other artist, and one gallery,” though it didn’t element who was being referenced.
“Right now marks not the tip however the starting of the remaking of Lisa Schiff,” Randy Zelin, a lawyer for Schiff, informed ARTnews. “She has accepted accountability for what she has executed—she has appeared arduous at herself within the mirror. She has been working and can proceed to work amends.”