The arrest on October 24th of auction king Guy Loudmer and his subsequent jailing has caused an incredible shock within the Parisian art world amidst fears of new scandals.
Meanwhile, his son Philippe, who faces charges of complicity, has disappeared from the French capital and is believed to have sought refuge in Israel. Investigators unravelled a complicated case which is doing no good to French auctioneers regarding certain of their practices. All the more, as it was suggested the day after Loudmer's arrest, another scandal is about to emerge regarding the provenance of the Bourdon collection which has eventually led to his jailing. First of all, large sums out of the 509 million FF (US $ 85 million) profits resulting from the March 25th 1990 sale were illegally transferred abroad. Just after the sale Loudmer had convinced Lucien and Marcelle Bourdon to set up a charity fund for which he was to act as treasurer until 1993. After his resignation, he hired the mother of his third child as well as two other of his friends to run the fund.
Investigators said about 100 million FF (almost US $ 17 million) were unaccounted for and added that the fund was illegally used to purchase works of art. Loudmer was therefore charged for aggravated breach of trust, receiving and complicity. He is also accused of having worked with some suspicious off-shore companies which had bank accounts in Switzerland and Luxemburg. Inquiries started four years ago regarding the conditions of the Bourdon sale in 1990. Lucien and Marcelle Bourdon, two former art gallery owners known as philanthropists wanted to allocate the profits of the sale for the setting up of a charity fund for the protection of animals, humanitarian aid, a childhood organisation as well as for needy artists.
Investigators then sifted through the ledgers of the Bourdon association set up by Loudmer who had appointed the old-aged Lucien Bourdon as chairman. However, the latter took no active part in the running of the fund and in fact was the first to criticise its functioning. Investigations nevertheless revealed serious malpractices which resulted in charges laid against the woman treasurer who had succeeded Loudmer in 1993 and the two employees he had hired. Investigating judge Evelyne Picard discovered a survey showing that the Loudmer grouping itself had incurred a 56,5 million francs (US $ 10 million) deficit lately and suspected Guy Loudmer of having conducted certain illegal operations. The loudmer grouping was on the verge of bankrupcy but Guy Loudmer's personal wealth was estimated at some 111,5 millions francs (US $ 19,22 million). Oddly enough such wealth is almost tallied with the estimated sum missing from the Bourdon sale profits. The judge suspected Guy Loudmer of having let the deficit of his grouping grow in view of the forthcoming statuatory changes of the auctioneering profession in France which is due to be opened to anglo-saxon auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's during the course of 1998.
The Loudmer case was like a bombshell for those auctioneers who are to retire next year especially as they have been negotiating for financial compensations with the government. The way under which they will receive indemnities is being discussed and they fear their allocations will in the end be considerably lowered. Nobody thought that the Loudmer grouping was in such a desperate financial situation and it has been revealed that Guy Loudmer had a serious feud with his son Philippe regarding its management. Guy Loudmer also carried out certain sales which resulted in payments abroad, notably through the private Banking Union in Geneva and the Bank of Luxemburg. Guy Loudmer told investigators that his son personally bought and sold works of art and that he had resorted to such practice too. He added that other auctioneers were also used to dealing in such a way. Loudmer's counsel however stressed that the accused and his son had carried out private sales in order to inject fresh funds into the accounts of their ailing grouping.
He added that none of them had tried to draw personal financial advantages. Nevetheless, Philippe Loudmer is suspected to have fled France to seek refuge in Israel with his family. He and his father have thus been suspended by the Paris Chambre des Commissaires-Priseurs and might be barred soon. Their grouping has meanwhile been put into the care of a legal administrator.
Investigators were also interested in the activities of a Panama company called IAI which bought four paintings during the Bourdon sale: "Garçon d'Etage" by Soutine, "Tour Eiffel" by Robert Delaunay, "Velo sur Fond Bleu" by Fernand Léger and "Prime Abord" by Dubuffet. These were acquired for a total of 22,9 million FF (US $ 4million) but were never paid. However, Loudmer took his commission out of the sale returns, charging the Bourdons for it. The IAI company was registered in the Virgin Islands and Curaçao and was known as buying paintings regularly from the Loudmer grouping, according to the newspaper le Monde. Loudmer never gave any information about this company to his employees whose managers remain quite mysterious. It was speculated that it might be linked to a Mafia-type organisation.
The unsold paintings were put back on sale in 1994 by another auction group but then only realised 9 millions francs (US $ 1,35 million). Some other works were also left unpaid by the mysterious Panama company and one of them, a painting by Spanish master Joan Miro, was found in Loudmer's office. Judge Evelyne Picard might therefore pursue her investigations abroad to trace back some strange buyers who never attended Loudmer's sales and whose purchases were delivered abroad through the Geneva duty-free zone out of the reach of French customs.
The arrest on October 24th of auction king Guy Loudmer and his subsequent jailing has caused an incredible shock within the Parisian art world amidst fears of new scandals.
Meanwhile, his son Philippe, who faces charges of complicity, has disappeared from the French capital and is believed to have sought refuge in Israel. Investigators unravelled a complicated case which is doing no good to French auctioneers regarding certain of their practices. All the more, as it was suggested the day after Loudmer's arrest, another scandal is about to emerge regarding the provenance of the Bourdon collection which has eventually led to his jailing. First of all, large sums out of the 509 million FF (US $ 85 million) profits resulting from the March 25th 1990 sale were illegally transferred abroad. Just after the sale Loudmer had convinced Lucien and Marcelle Bourdon to set up a charity fund for which he was to act as treasurer until 1993. After his resignation, he hired the mother of his third child as well as two other of his friends to run the fund.
Investigators said about 100 million FF (almost US $ 17 million) were unaccounted for and added that the fund was illegally used to purchase works of art. Loudmer was therefore charged for aggravated breach of trust, receiving and complicity. He is also accused of having worked with some suspicious off-shore companies which had bank accounts in Switzerland and Luxemburg. Inquiries started four years ago regarding the conditions of the Bourdon sale in 1990. Lucien and Marcelle Bourdon, two former art gallery owners known as philanthropists wanted to allocate the profits of the sale for the setting up of a charity fund for the protection of animals, humanitarian aid, a childhood organisation as well as for needy artists.
Investigators then sifted through the ledgers of the Bourdon association set up by Loudmer who had appointed the old-aged Lucien Bourdon as chairman. However, the latter took no active part in the running of the fund and in fact was the first to criticise its functioning. Investigations nevertheless revealed serious malpractices which resulted in charges laid against the woman treasurer who had succeeded Loudmer in 1993 and the two employees he had hired. Investigating judge Evelyne Picard discovered a survey showing that the Loudmer grouping itself had incurred a 56,5 million francs (US $ 10 million) deficit lately and suspected Guy Loudmer of having conducted certain illegal operations. The loudmer grouping was on the verge of bankrupcy but Guy Loudmer's personal wealth was estimated at some 111,5 millions francs (US $ 19,22 million). Oddly enough such wealth is almost tallied with the estimated sum missing from the Bourdon sale profits. The judge suspected Guy Loudmer of having let the deficit of his grouping grow in view of the forthcoming statuatory changes of the auctioneering profession in France which is due to be opened to anglo-saxon auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's during the course of 1998.
The Loudmer case was like a bombshell for those auctioneers who are to retire next year especially as they have been negotiating for financial compensations with the government. The way under which they will receive indemnities is being discussed and they fear their allocations will in the end be considerably lowered. Nobody thought that the Loudmer grouping was in such a desperate financial situation and it has been revealed that Guy Loudmer had a serious feud with his son Philippe regarding its management. Guy Loudmer also carried out certain sales which resulted in payments abroad, notably through the private Banking Union in Geneva and the Bank of Luxemburg. Guy Loudmer told investigators that his son personally bought and sold works of art and that he had resorted to such practice too. He added that other auctioneers were also used to dealing in such a way. Loudmer's counsel however stressed that the accused and his son had carried out private sales in order to inject fresh funds into the accounts of their ailing grouping.
He added that none of them had tried to draw personal financial advantages. Nevetheless, Philippe Loudmer is suspected to have fled France to seek refuge in Israel with his family. He and his father have thus been suspended by the Paris Chambre des Commissaires-Priseurs and might be barred soon. Their grouping has meanwhile been put into the care of a legal administrator.
Investigators were also interested in the activities of a Panama company called IAI which bought four paintings during the Bourdon sale: "Garçon d'Etage" by Soutine, "Tour Eiffel" by Robert Delaunay, "Velo sur Fond Bleu" by Fernand Léger and "Prime Abord" by Dubuffet. These were acquired for a total of 22,9 million FF (US $ 4million) but were never paid. However, Loudmer took his commission out of the sale returns, charging the Bourdons for it. The IAI company was registered in the Virgin Islands and Curaçao and was known as buying paintings regularly from the Loudmer grouping, according to the newspaper le Monde. Loudmer never gave any information about this company to his employees whose managers remain quite mysterious. It was speculated that it might be linked to a Mafia-type organisation.
The unsold paintings were put back on sale in 1994 by another auction group but then only realised 9 millions francs (US $ 1,35 million). Some other works were also left unpaid by the mysterious Panama company and one of them, a painting by Spanish master Joan Miro, was found in Loudmer's office. Judge Evelyne Picard might therefore pursue her investigations abroad to trace back some strange buyers who never attended Loudmer's sales and whose purchases were delivered abroad through the Geneva duty-free zone out of the reach of French customs.
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