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Admissions of fraud by a world-renowed art dealer while in the dock at Jersey’s Royal Court have been sent to UK prosecutors for review, Express can reveal.
New York-raised Andrew ‘Andy’ Valmorbida was being cross-examined for an unrelated case - a lawsuit by a city tycoon Christian Hore – in May when he made the surprise comments.
Among his revelations were that he had falsified documents to suggest ownership of paintings – including by renowned artists Francis Bacon and Jean-Michel Basquiat – to obtain personal loans totalling some $10m.
The Court was also told of two instances in which he had “flipped” paintings, altering invoices to suggest to a purchaser that he was selling paintings at “cost price” – when in fact they were being sold at a $200,000 profit – and keeping the difference for himself.
Even though the dispute with Mr Hore was confidentially settled after the hearing, the Royal Court was so concerned that it decided to make its judgment public anyway.
Pictured: Due to its concerns about Mr Valmorbida, the Royal Court decided to publish its judgment despite the case being confidentially settled.
The Court said it was important that “serially dishonest” Mr Valmorbida’s dealings were “exposed” and that any Jersey service providers working with him have full knowledge of his activities.
It also took the rare step of transferring the case papers to Attorney General Mark Temple “for his consideration as to whether or not they should be sent to the Director of Public Prosecution.”
The Law Officers’ Department confirmed to Express this week that the Attorney General had since decided to take the case further.
A file was forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC, at the Crown Prosecution Service in London on 15 October, they confirmed.
"We will not be making any further comment as we do not comment on investigations," a spokesperson added.
In its judgment, the Court also said it had “significant concerns” about reported “attempts to disguise his tax residence”.
Pictured: Attorney General Mark Temple sent material to the Director of Public Prosecutions in October.
When Express contacted the Jersey Financial Services Commission to ask whether it was aware of the judgment and reviewing any entities linked to Mr Valmorbida back in October, a spokesperson responded: "We would not comment on whether or not we are investigating a specific individual or entity.
Mr Valmorbida is the son of one of Melbourne’s wealthiest families. Known as a “coffee dynasty” in Australia, they made a $500m fortune importing Lavazza coffee and La Gina canned tomatoes among other Italian staples from the 1950s, and these days operate in the dining and entertainment sphere.
But rather than join the family trade, Mr Valmorbida plunged into finance before entering the art world and becoming President of Untitled-1 – a pivot that brought him a star-studded list of friends and acquaintances.
Previously snapped alongside Mary-Kate Olsen, Alicia Keys and Paris Hilton among others, he has been credited with relaunching street artist Richard Hambleton’s work.
An Untitled-1 event held in July attracted former footballer Jamie Redknapp, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, Made in Chelsea’s Caggie Dunlop, designer Julia Restoin Roitfeld and other members of the fashion set.
Last month, Untitled-1 said it was planning to use its exclusive copyright of Hambleton’s work to create a collection of NFTs.
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