News Articles Library Event Photos Contact Search


Displaying items by tag: criminal

The Department of Justice has restrained Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) Compotier et taste (1909) on behalf of the Italian government. The request is part of an ongoing investigation that Italian officials have been conducting. The painting, which is worth $11.5 million, is tied to Gabriella Amati and her late husband, Angelo Maj, who were charged by the Italian Public Prosecutors’ Office with embezzlement and fraudulent bankruptcy offenses. The restraining order was sought in connection with the criminal proceedings.

Amati and Maj, along with a public official in Naples, are accused of misappropriating tax receipts for the city. The trio also planned schemes to embezzle Naples’ tax revenue and fraudulently claimed refunds to Naples taxpayer to make transfers to their own bank accounts seem legitimate. The city of Naples lost approximately $44 million due to Amati and Maj’s schemes.

The Picasso painting, which was recovered by special agents in New York while it was being offered for private sale, will remain in the court’s jurisdiction. The U.S. is working closely with the Italian Public Prosecutors’ Office to forfeit the painting to Italy. Restraining the painting will hopefully help recovered the millions of dollars Naples lost because of Amati and Maj.

Published in News
Wednesday, 10 October 2012 15:28

Rothko Vandal Charged

A man was charged in London after scrawling “Vladimir Umanets, A Potential Piece of Yellowism” in black paint on Mark Rothko’s Black on Maroon at the Tate Modern on Sunday.

Wlodzimierz Umaniec, a 26-year-old Polish national who goes by the name “Vladimir Umanets” was arrested in connection with the act and charged with one count of criminal damage in excess of 5,000 pounds (about $8,000).

Created in 1958 for the Four Seasons in New York City, Black on Maroon was part of Rothko’s Seagram mural series. The crime took place during regular museum hours and a witness said that Umaniec sat quietly on a bench in front of the painting before defacing it.

Published in News
Events