NEW YORK (AP) — A British art dealer has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for stealing at least $10 million from clients by brokering art sales for them and keeping the money for himself.
Timothy Sammons was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan after pleading guilty July 2 to grand larceny and scheming to defraud.
The 63-year-old Sammons operated a fine art business with offices in London, Zurich and New York.
Prosecutors said that between 2010 and 2015 he brokered the sales of high-priced artworks including pieces by Picasso and Chagall but failed to turn over the proceeds that rightfully belonged to the sellers.
District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said Sammons garnered the trust of clients “only to defraud them of millions and use the ill-gotten gains to fund his lavish lifestyle.”
