A British art dealer might be extradited to the United States for allegedly providing fake paperwork to a fraudster who defrauded investors out of £68 million.
Robert Newland, 43, is accused of giving fake information and documents to’serial swindler’ Inigo Philbrick in order to enable him run a ‘ponzi-like operation’ on his victims.
Philbrick, 34, dubbed the ‘Mini Madoff of the art world,’ was sentenced to seven years in jail last month for a scheme in which he diverted money from customers to acquire artworks, pay off debts, and fund a lavish lifestyle, according to federal authorities.
Authorities said artworks used in the plot included a 1982 painting named ‘Humidity’ by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, a 2010 nameless painting by artist Christopher Wool, and an untitled 2012 painting by artist Rudolf Stingel depicting Pablo Picasso.
The scheme unravelled after a lender notified Philbrick that he was in default of a $14million loan, prosecutors said.
Art buyers defrauded by Philbrick filed civil lawsuits and he stopped responding to legal processes.
In November 2019, Philbrick failed to appear for court hearings in London and Miami, cities in which he owned art galleries.
He was eventually arrested by the FBI on the Pacific island of Vanuatu, where he had fled with his fiancé, Victoria Baker-Harber, 33, the Made in Chelsea socialite whom he began dating in 2017, and who is the mother of his child.
Newland reportedly met Philbrick at White Cube, the London-based gallery where Philbrick started out in the art world and where Newland had previously been a director.
When an indictment against him was released in February by the Southern District Court of New York, he was listed as a suspect.
Extradition proceedings for wire fraud and conspiracy to conduct wire fraud will be held in Westminster magistrates’ court in November, with a full hearing set.
Newland is being held in his £1.8 million west London mansion and is being held on a £250,000 bail. He is subject to a nighttime curfew and must wear an electronic tag.
Victoria Baker-Harber has stated that she supports her fiancé, the convicted art dealer.
Rumors that she and’serial swindler’ Philbrick are no longer together are a ‘pack of bulls***,’ according to the British reality TV personality.
‘I’ve stood by him and will continue to do so,’ she told The Sun.
When Philbrick spoke about the ‘anguish’ of not being able to support their daughter Gaia-Grace, who was born in 2020, Ms Baker-Harber wept in the US courtroom last month.
Their daughter was born two years after the couple started dating in 2017. Gaia-Grace has never met Philbrick, but they did speak on the phone when he was arrested in 2019.
There’s ‘no nicer sound,’ according to Philbrick, than his daughter calling him daddy.
He whispered to a sobbing Ms Baker-Harber and kissed her as he was brought to prison.
He told her he loved her, she told The Sun.
Ms Baker-Harber said she ‘dreads’ the day she has to explain things to her daughter about Philbrick, and that she does not want to take Gaia to the ‘barbaric’ Brooklyn prison where her father is now being detained.
The Made in Chelsea socialite posted pictures of their daughter’s first birthday on Instagram in November last year.
‘She doesn’t know she doesn’t have a father yet,’ she told the paper. ‘I dread the day I have to start explaining things to her.’
She added that Philbrick is the ‘best person’ she knows.