Inigo Philbrick, the shameless art dealer who was found guilty of an $86 million fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison, has been freed. The seven-year sentence (including two years already served) was handed down in May 2022, meaning he will serve just under four years of the seven-year sentence.
Philbrick’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, confirmed his client’s release: “Yes, Inigo is out of jail and at home with his family.” He announced before his release Daily Mail, citing a Federal Bureau of Prisons source who said he was released in February. according to Vanity Fairhe was released in January to home confinement and two years of supervised release.
Philbrick’s bride, train Made in Chelsea Star Victoria Baker-Harber celebrated her return in an Instagram post on Wednesday, revealing a photo of the couple and their daughter Gaia-Grace Vanity Fair article In the accompanying caption, Baker-Harber wrote: “Long time coming, but here we are!”
Philbrick opened his gallery in 2013 after heading White Cube’s secondary market sales. He was known for his keen eye among collectors and speculators and was known to bid at blue-chip contemporary art auctions. In 2017, his gallery had a turnover of 130 million dollars. However, in 2019 Philbrick’s popularity began to decline, and his business suffered as the market for some of his favorite artists (such as Christopher Wool and Rudolf Stingel) began to cool. In order to keep up appearances and maintain his lifestyle, the art dealer falsified the ownership of some of the works for his own benefit, sold shares of the works to various investors for over 100%, used some of these works to secure loans to himself, and falsified shipping documents. .
In late 2019, after collectors and speculators began to suspect Philbrick of dirty business, civil lawsuits for fraud began to pile up. In October of that year, he defaulted on a $14 million loan and fled the US to the Pacific island of Vanuatu before several public lawsuits were filed against him. He was arrested in June 2020 after Vanuatu authorities expelled him at the request of the US embassy in Papua New Guinea. A month later he was indicted by a New York grand jury. In November 2021, he pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges, telling a Manhattan judge that he did it “for the money.” Although he received a prison sentence of up to 20 years, the following March he was sentenced to seven years.
Last September, Philbrick’s business partner Robert Newland was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison by a New York District Court judge on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Philbrick’s fraud, disappearance and subsequent arrest in a remote tropical location were the talk of the art industry in 2020 and 2021. For many, his case represented in sensational terms the dangers of a market where seven- and eight-figure transactions can be made. with little paper trail, and the identities of sellers and buyers can be kept secret from the authorities and from each other.
