Picasso’s Compotier et Tasse was seized by federal officials last week at the request of the Italian government. The owner of the work, Gabriella Amati, used schemes “to embezzle Naples’ (Italy) tax revenue.” The work, valued at $11.5 million, was offered for private sale in New York but will be returned to Italy with hopes of recovering some of what was stolen from the citizens of Naples. Amati and her late husband embezzled an estimated $44 million in tax revenue according to the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
