Owner of AS Monaco soccer club, Russian millionaire Dimitri Rybolovlev (L) leaves after … [+]
Amidst the war and instability of the contemporary moment, the ongoing feud between Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and Swiss free-port king Yves Bouvier may seem insignificant. However, Rybolovlev's legal team has confirmed that the Russian won a “decisive victory”, not only in the long battle within the niche of the elite art-buying community, but in setting the standard of European privacy.
The story known as “The Bouvier Affair” is framed as such for an investigation initiated into the acquisition of 37 masterpieces by Dmitry Rybolovlev, acquired exclusively by Bouvier himself. For about a decade until 2014, the range of paintings obtained included works by Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, as well as the seminal Christ as Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci, which sold for $450 million at Christie's in 2017. The value of the entire collection was estimated at $1 billion in its entirety, but Bouvier allegedly earned an additional billion in commissions illicit In the following decade, after accusations were brought against Bouvier all over the world, he has since been completely cleared of embezzlement.
To a large extent, The Bouvier Affair has been a story about Rybolovlev attacking Bouvier in a quest for justice with an unlimited budget. But at the height of the tension between the two magnates, the small principality of Monaco served as a base for their most intense retaliation.
Yves Bouvier was ambushed in an arrest at the entrance to the HSBC bank in Monaco in 2014 by a large number of police, shortly after Rybolovlev confirmed his suspicions that the Swiss free port tycoon was earning more than first realized . The bank was also the lobby of Rybolovlev's stunning Belle Époque waterfront penthouse, owned by Edmund Safra of Hermitage Capital, before Safra burned alive inside in an arson fire.
“Monacogate” was a counterattack, in which Rybolovlev's lawyer, Tetiana Bersheda, was thoroughly investigated. Bersheda had been loyal to the Rybolovlev camp for many years and personally presented many of the documents to launch the Bouvier Affair, challenging Bouvier's financial gains. In 2017, long after the 2014 Monaco arrest, Bersheda's personal cellphone records were extensively scrutinized by local courts, scrutinizing him for misconduct.
Now, in the year 2024, the court has unanimously ruled that these criminal proceedings violated rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, in a “tainted” violation of attorney-client privilege and on matters outside the case.
Pure review of a specific concern, let alone victory, was extremely rare.
“The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Europe's highest jurisdiction in criminal matters, rarely examines such cases,” explained Rybolovlev's lawyer in this case, Martin Reynaud. “Their goal is just to clarify fundamental civil rights. The fact that they've filed such a deeply grounded ruling here is remarkable.”
This condemnation of Monaco is intended to set a precedent for other similar countries and city states. Given the scale of the conflict between Rybolovlev and Bouvier, which eventually affected the Swiss art dealer in Geneva, Paris, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Singapore and through Sotheby's in New York, he underwent a principle of challenge from the superior court.
Monaco, in particular, has a long-standing reputation as a “sunny place” for “shady people”, and this verdict ensures that an ethical standard will be enforced.
Reynaud has stressed that the judicial proceedings cannot continue absolutely because of the fundamental questions determined by the European Court of Human Rights. The base is now considered illegally obtained by the Monegasque judicial authorities.
This ruling follows a January verdict in New York, where Rybolovlev lost, against Sotheby's for its dealings with Bouvier during the acquisition period. Each time Rybolovlev returns to court provides a new opportunity to tell his story of wrongdoing and victimization. That this was a victory is secondary to the opportunity to formalize the case against what his defense has always maintained as fraud, educating new audiences about the dangers of the art market.
A representative for Highgate, the London-based PR firm recently associated with Yves Bouvier, declined to comment on his behalf about the litigation. His name was not technically involved.
