"Doyle claimed that he was in the US Air Force "and was a 'Top Gun'. He also said that he was a government contractor, and he also told me that he dabbled in art [dealing]." According to Matthiesen, Doyle said that his mother was involved in the art world, making reference to the prominent auction house Doyle Auctions, adding that "his family had a substantial trust that invested in art"."
"Know-your-client rules are not just bureaucratic boxes to tick. In some art trade transactions they can be the difference between sniffing out a fraudster and losing possession of, say, an early Gustave Courbet painting. The London gallery owner Patrick Matthiesen learned this the hard way. He had purchased an 1844 oil painting by Courbet, Mother and Child on a Hammock, at a French auction house in 2015 and was looking to sell it."
Know-your-client checks can reveal fraud and protect ownership in art trades. Patrick Matthiesen purchased an 1844 Courbet painting, Mother and Child on a Hammock, at a French auction house in 2015 and sought to sell it. He consigned the painting to the Nicholas Hall Gallery in 2023 for Tefaf Maastricht and the work was listed for $650,000 but did not sell. Matthiesen arranged for the painting to be displayed in New York where he was introduced to a man using the names Thomas Doyle and A.J. Doyle. Matthiesen discovered a criminal record including fraud convictions and a 2007 conviction for stealing a Degas bronze that led to two years in prison.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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