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Inigo Philbrick

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Inigo Philbrick
Born
Inigo August Philbrick

(1987-04-23) April 23, 1987 (age 37)[1]
Westminster, London[2]
NationalityAmerican
EducationJoel Barlow High School
Alma materGoldsmiths, University of London
OccupationFormer art dealer
Criminal chargesWire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1348)
Criminal penaltySeven years imprisonment, plus two years supervised release and a fine of $86m
Criminal statusReleased
SpouseVictoria Baker-Harber (m. 2024)
PartnerFrancisca Mancini (? - 2016)
Children2
ParentHarry Philbrick

Inigo August Philbrick (born April 23, 1987) is an American former art dealer and convicted fraud. According to the FBI, Philbrick committed the largest art fraud in American history. He was convicted of wire fraud in May 2022 and was sentenced to seven years in prison and was ordered to forfeit $86.7 million.[3] He was released from Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood in early 2024, having served four years of his sentence.[4]

Early life

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Inigo Philbrick was born in Westminster, London. He is the son of Harry Philbrick, who was the director of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, from 1996 to 2010,[5] and Jane Polich Philbrick, a Barnard-educated playwright and artist.[6] His maternal grandfather, Richard Polich, the son of Croatian immigrants, operated the Polich Tallix art foundry in Beacon, New York, which creates massive sculptures as well as the Oscar award statuettes.[7]

Philbrick was educated at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Connecticut, and graduated in 2005.[8] He studied art at Goldsmiths, University of London, as his father did before him.[5]

Career

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In 2006, Philbrick began an internship at London's White Cube gallery.[5] He later become their head of secondary-market sales at the gallery.

In October 2011, with backing from White Cube's owner, Jay Jopling, he set up Modern Collections at 89 Mount Street in London's Mayfair, focusing on the secondary market for the work of contemporary artists.[5] His first show included work by Kelley Walker and Wade Guyton (neither was a White Cube artist).[5]

In 2013, Philbrick started his own business, and Jopling continued to provide financial support.[5] Artists traded included Rudolf Stingel, Christopher Wool, and Mike Kelley.[5] Philbrick had galleries in London and Miami.[9]

Philbrick was later determined to have engaged in various fraudulent practices.[10] These included selling shares in a single piece of art to multiple investors resulting in the sold shares totaling more than 100 percent; selling artworks or using them as loan collateral without the knowledge of their owners; and providing "fraudulent" documents to "artificially inflate the value of artworks."[10][11]

Arrest and imprisonment

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By late 2019, a number of civil lawsuits were filed against Philbrick for fraud. In October of that year, he defaulted on a $14m loan and fled the United States to Australia, Japan and New Caledonia. Eventually in 2020, he settled into hiding in Port Vila, Vanuatu.[12] Acting on a request from the U.S. Embassy in Papua New Guinea, Minister Kalsakau subsequently signed a removal order allowing for his deportation from the South Pacific Ocean nation. As a fugitive from justice in the United States since October 2019, U.S. Federal law enforcement agents subsequently took the art dealer into custody apprehending him shopping at a market with partner Victoria Baker-Harber.[4] He was taken immediately to Port Vila Airport and transported to Guam via Gulfstream V, to answer to a criminal complaint charging him with engaging in a multi-year scheme to defraud various individuals and entities in order to finance his art business.[13][14][15]

Philbrick appeared in court via video link in Guam on June 15 where his charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft were read. Given his flight risk, the judge remanded him into custody and authorised Philbrick's transfer to the United States.[16] American artist, academic and writer Kenny Schachter, who lost more than $1.5 million to Philbrick, called him a "very talented art dealer", a "mini Madoff" who had "sabotaged his entire life for short-term greed", and fell due to "a toxic mix of arrogance and alcohol".[3] As early as May 2020, Schachter had written off Philbrick as "the Bernie Madoff of the art world".[17][3]

After being incarcerated for nearly a year and a half, Philbrick pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on 18 November 2021 in the Southern District of New York.[18] On 23 May 2022, he was sentenced by District Judge Sidney H. Stein to 84 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $86m in fraud restitution.[19] He served his sentence a Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood, alongside criminals including Martin Shkreli and James Holmes. Philbrick was released from prison in early 2024, following four years incarceration.[4]

Personal life

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Philbrick was in a relationship with Francisca Mancini, a "Buenos Aires–born art adviser turned perfume maker".[20][5] They had a daughter together in 2016.[20]

Following release from prison, he married socialite Victoria Baker-Harber (daughter of Michael Baker-Harber), a regular on the British reality television show Made in Chelsea.[9][3][21] The pair have a daughter, born in November 2020.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Art Affairs Ltd". Companies House. gov.uk. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  2. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007
  3. ^ a b c d Alberge, Dalya (May 25, 2022). "'He's sabotaged his entire life for greed': the $86m rise and fall of Inigo Philbrick". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Guinness, Emma (April 23, 2024). "Fame, fortune and fraud: The rise and fall of 'the biggest art scammer in history' Inigo Philbrick". The Independent. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Douglas, Sarah; Tully, Judd (December 3, 2019). "Who Is Inigo Philbrick? Meet the Man Behind One of the Biggest Potential Modern Art Scandals". Art News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  6. ^ Seal, Mark (March 27, 2024). "The Confessions of Inigo Philbrick, Art Fraudster Extraordinaire". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  7. ^ Risen, Clay (January 20, 2023). "Dick Polich, Artists' Ally in the Creation of Sculptures, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  8. ^ Kinsella, Eileen (March 12, 2020). "What Did Inigo Philbrick Do? How One Precocious Dealer Allegedly Swindled the Art Market's Savviest Players Out of Millions". Artnet. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Watts, Matt (May 25, 2022). "Cheating art dealer in relationship with Made in Chelsea star jailed for £80m fraud". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Moynihan, Colin (May 23, 2022). "Art Dealer Sentenced to 7 Years in $86 Million Fraud Scheme". New York Times. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  11. ^ Kinsella, Eileen (September 26, 2022). "U.K. Dealer Rob Newland Has Pleaded Guilty to a Role in Inigo Philbrick's $86 Million Art-Fraud Scheme". artnet.
  12. ^ a b Coke, Hope (November 30, 2020). "Philbrick hasn't met his newborn daughter". Tatler. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  13. ^ "The Confessions of Inigo Philbrick, Art Fraudster Extraordinaire". vanityfair.com. March 27, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  14. ^ Willie, Glenda (June 16, 2020). "Wanted U.S. National Deported". Vanuatu Daily Post. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  15. ^ United States Attorneys Office - Southern District of New York (June 12, 2020). "Former London And Miami Art Dealer Arrested For Fraud Scheme". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  16. ^ Bekiempis, Victoria (June 16, 2020). "The Art World's 'Mini Madoff' Has Been Arrested on an Island in the South Pacific". Vulture. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  17. ^ Schachter, Kenny (May 30, 2020). "Inigo Philbrick and the scam that shook the art world". The Times. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  18. ^ United States Attorneys Office - Southern District of New York (September 23, 2022). "Business Partner Of Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Art Buyers And Financers". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  19. ^ Moynihan, Colin (May 23, 2022). "Art Dealer Sentenced to 7 Years in $86 Million Fraud Scheme". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. ^ a b Franklin-Wallis, Oliver (May 6, 2020). "In search of Inigo Philbrick, the disappearing art dealer". GQ. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  21. ^ "He masterminded an $86m art fraud — and doesn't feel guilty". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
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