The Problems With Art Fraud Prosecution
Over the last few years it has been reported by various media agencies that buying art at sea is a risky business.
It seems that the art is highly priced, sold under alcohol consumption, with questionable authenticity and inflated appraisals.
How is it that since 2007 no federal agency has jumped into the fray to protect such purchases and prosecute the guilty parties? The answer to the question is complex but that there are factors which together provide an environment which allow unprecedented protection to those whose goal is to take financial advantage of the art buyer.
It starts with the fact that cruise line sales take place at sea.
Weak Art Fraud Laws The regulatory rules, laws, and so on apply to activities which take place in the nation, state, or municipality.
Beyond the territorial boundaries law enforcement runs into a wall of, jurisdiction issues, prosecuting problems in foreign lands, identifying the culprit, the Internet, and so on.
Fraud laws may apply on land but at sea their significance is severely limited or non- existent.
This is not to say that art fraud laws are any better on land.
Art fraud prosecution on land is minimal.
Out of about 100 prosecutions for art fraud on land only about 20 were developed from art fraud statutes.
Most arose from mail fraud statutes.
The SLAPP Suit One would think that what one says for the most part is protected by the first amendment.
Filing a complaint against an entity because you feel you have been victimized, or in violation of a law should result in a rational response from the party carrying out the victimization.
Settlement, or court hearing the dispute should result in a consequence agreeable to both parties.
Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation SLAPP is the move by those who have the time and money to prevent complainants from continuing their objections to the activities of the plaintiffs.
SLAPP moves to stifle First Amendment rights and not to resolve any issues.
SLAPP wants the complainant to spend 4 years focused on responding to why he is "disparaging" the service or product of the defendant.
There is no attempt to resolve the dispute but to stifle dissent.
White Collar Crime Art fraud falls under the category of white collar crime as opposed to street crime.
Street crime sub-categories consist of murder, assault, burglary, and robbery to name a few.
White collar crime sub-categories are telemarketing violations, extortion, fraud, and those violations of the law carried out without apparent violence or mayhem by individuals we trust.
The collar identifier dichotomizes the difference between the lower class street criminal wearing the blue collar and the upper class criminal sporting the white collar.
Researchers have noted that the legal system is fraught with disparity in terms of how police, prosecutors and the system in general responds to the two major categories of crime, To begin with, street crimes are what laws are all about.
From tiny municipalities to grand state and national police forces street crime is responded to with a sense of urgency.
Assault, burglary, rape, will bring the police to the crime scene in minutes.
Investigations, prosecutions, and jail time are carried out with a sense of zeal and knowledge.
Jail time is stringent, certain, and nasty.
The same police forces trained in street crimes have very little training in white collar crimes, nor do they have the staff to carry out investigations.
Normally, white collar crimes are investigated at the state and national level.
White collar crimes are difficult to prosecute due to the major problems of establishing guilt via demonstrating who carried out the crime, and if it can be shown that the crime was done intentionally.
The criminal holding the smoking gun is not the picture of the guilty white collar criminal.
There is also a difficulty in assigning guilt since the process of violating white collar statutes involves many people who may or may not be involved in the crime.
Prosecutors lament that even if they can file charges against an alleged white collar criminal staffing and finances preclude successful prosecution since they are unmatched by the defendant's legal team.
It is rare that white collar criminals actually do time and if they do incarceration in some cases equals a stay in a minimal security prison baking cookies.
The deterrent effect in white collar crime is without bite.
The Perfect Crime It goes without saying that from non-corporate to corporate criminals who violate the white collar crime statutes and regulations, they know their way around being prosecuted.
Weak laws, untrained police forces, unmanned and under financed prosecutorial efforts, and lack of deterrent power make the carrying out of white collar crime a walk in the park.
The case of Bernie Madoff represents how far this walk can go.
The cruise line scenario has it down even one step further.
Take it out beyond the regulatory coverage area, provide a credit card with no returns, supply alcohol prior to purchase, sell goods "as equal", stone wall complaints or requests for refunds, sue for defamation, remove pesky customers from the selling arena, hire former federal prosecutors harass complainants, bank on harassment to remove complainants from the system, and use a public relations firm to put a spin on the activities.
This new version of the white collar criminal seems to have developed the perfect crime.
The probability of being prosecuted is virtually absent.
The one factor not figured into the formula is the "David v.
Goliath" scenario.
Organizations assume that most people will eventually just go away.
This formula did not figure that some individuals and their sense of justice and purpose could withstand not only the absence of governmental prosecutorial assistance but even after years of threats, harassment, and deposition and discovery activities one 5 foot 4 inch woman named Theresa of Fine Art Registry would still be standing.
The government may be twiddling their thumbs and the mass media regurgitating old news instead of focusing on a massive attack on consumer protection and First Amendment rights, Theresa is standing in front of the tank waiting for Goliath to "bring it on.
"The perfect crime seems not to be perfect any more.
It seems that the art is highly priced, sold under alcohol consumption, with questionable authenticity and inflated appraisals.
How is it that since 2007 no federal agency has jumped into the fray to protect such purchases and prosecute the guilty parties? The answer to the question is complex but that there are factors which together provide an environment which allow unprecedented protection to those whose goal is to take financial advantage of the art buyer.
It starts with the fact that cruise line sales take place at sea.
Weak Art Fraud Laws The regulatory rules, laws, and so on apply to activities which take place in the nation, state, or municipality.
Beyond the territorial boundaries law enforcement runs into a wall of, jurisdiction issues, prosecuting problems in foreign lands, identifying the culprit, the Internet, and so on.
Fraud laws may apply on land but at sea their significance is severely limited or non- existent.
This is not to say that art fraud laws are any better on land.
Art fraud prosecution on land is minimal.
Out of about 100 prosecutions for art fraud on land only about 20 were developed from art fraud statutes.
Most arose from mail fraud statutes.
The SLAPP Suit One would think that what one says for the most part is protected by the first amendment.
Filing a complaint against an entity because you feel you have been victimized, or in violation of a law should result in a rational response from the party carrying out the victimization.
Settlement, or court hearing the dispute should result in a consequence agreeable to both parties.
Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation SLAPP is the move by those who have the time and money to prevent complainants from continuing their objections to the activities of the plaintiffs.
SLAPP moves to stifle First Amendment rights and not to resolve any issues.
SLAPP wants the complainant to spend 4 years focused on responding to why he is "disparaging" the service or product of the defendant.
There is no attempt to resolve the dispute but to stifle dissent.
White Collar Crime Art fraud falls under the category of white collar crime as opposed to street crime.
Street crime sub-categories consist of murder, assault, burglary, and robbery to name a few.
White collar crime sub-categories are telemarketing violations, extortion, fraud, and those violations of the law carried out without apparent violence or mayhem by individuals we trust.
The collar identifier dichotomizes the difference between the lower class street criminal wearing the blue collar and the upper class criminal sporting the white collar.
Researchers have noted that the legal system is fraught with disparity in terms of how police, prosecutors and the system in general responds to the two major categories of crime, To begin with, street crimes are what laws are all about.
From tiny municipalities to grand state and national police forces street crime is responded to with a sense of urgency.
Assault, burglary, rape, will bring the police to the crime scene in minutes.
Investigations, prosecutions, and jail time are carried out with a sense of zeal and knowledge.
Jail time is stringent, certain, and nasty.
The same police forces trained in street crimes have very little training in white collar crimes, nor do they have the staff to carry out investigations.
Normally, white collar crimes are investigated at the state and national level.
White collar crimes are difficult to prosecute due to the major problems of establishing guilt via demonstrating who carried out the crime, and if it can be shown that the crime was done intentionally.
The criminal holding the smoking gun is not the picture of the guilty white collar criminal.
There is also a difficulty in assigning guilt since the process of violating white collar statutes involves many people who may or may not be involved in the crime.
Prosecutors lament that even if they can file charges against an alleged white collar criminal staffing and finances preclude successful prosecution since they are unmatched by the defendant's legal team.
It is rare that white collar criminals actually do time and if they do incarceration in some cases equals a stay in a minimal security prison baking cookies.
The deterrent effect in white collar crime is without bite.
The Perfect Crime It goes without saying that from non-corporate to corporate criminals who violate the white collar crime statutes and regulations, they know their way around being prosecuted.
Weak laws, untrained police forces, unmanned and under financed prosecutorial efforts, and lack of deterrent power make the carrying out of white collar crime a walk in the park.
The case of Bernie Madoff represents how far this walk can go.
The cruise line scenario has it down even one step further.
Take it out beyond the regulatory coverage area, provide a credit card with no returns, supply alcohol prior to purchase, sell goods "as equal", stone wall complaints or requests for refunds, sue for defamation, remove pesky customers from the selling arena, hire former federal prosecutors harass complainants, bank on harassment to remove complainants from the system, and use a public relations firm to put a spin on the activities.
This new version of the white collar criminal seems to have developed the perfect crime.
The probability of being prosecuted is virtually absent.
The one factor not figured into the formula is the "David v.
Goliath" scenario.
Organizations assume that most people will eventually just go away.
This formula did not figure that some individuals and their sense of justice and purpose could withstand not only the absence of governmental prosecutorial assistance but even after years of threats, harassment, and deposition and discovery activities one 5 foot 4 inch woman named Theresa of Fine Art Registry would still be standing.
The government may be twiddling their thumbs and the mass media regurgitating old news instead of focusing on a massive attack on consumer protection and First Amendment rights, Theresa is standing in front of the tank waiting for Goliath to "bring it on.
"The perfect crime seems not to be perfect any more.
