The Court of Appeal in Monaco dismissed charges of fraud and money laundering against art dealer Yves Bouvier. Proceedings against Bouvier initiated by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who claims that the dealer swindled him out of $1 billion for the sale of works of art
The Court of Appeals in Monaco dismissed the fraud proceedings against Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier that were initiated in connection with a lawsuit filed by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev #19, Bloomberg reported. The judge ruled that the investigation into Bouvier’s activities was “biased and unfair,” and that the art dealer himself was not given the opportunity to “correct these serious deficiencies.”
“This victory proves what we have been saying all along, namely that the process was tainted and extremely biased in favor of the Russian oligarch,” the agency quoted Bouvier as saying.
Rybolovlev’s lawyers in Switzerland, Sandrine Giroux and Marc Anzlen, told RBC that the ruling by the court in Monaco remains purely procedural and has no impact on the ongoing process in Geneva. “We are perfectly at ease with the continuation of the normal course of the investigation in Geneva, where professional fraud is prosecuted,” they said in a joint statement.
In October, the lawyers filed a 400-page supplemental complaint explaining how the fraud was “committed step by step,” Giroux and Anzlen reminded Interfax. “It includes documents that are in no way related to the Monaco procedure. We are absolutely calm in the continuation of the normal course of the investigation in Geneva,” the lawyers said.
Rybolovlev has been suing Bouvier since 2015. He accuses the art dealer of selling him artworks at an inflated price. Rybolovlev estimated his total losses at $1 billion. Bouvier himself denies guilt.
