Jho Low’s Basquiat
While this is not an article about the art market, it does relate since they talk about the money …siphoned out of 1Malaysia Development Bhd., the Malaysian state fund known as 1MDB. Jho Low, who many consider the main figure in the 1MDB fraud, used the money to buy real estate, jewelry, yachts and art — among the latter were works by Picasso, Monet, van Gogh and Basquiat.
According to Rachel Louise Ensign and Serena Ng’s article, the amount of money that flows through these pooled accounts is staggering … anywhere between $146 and $400 billion each year. The point I found most interesting is that the legal industry has fought hard to avoid being swept up in the governments extension of tough anti-money-laundering rules.
Source: Law Firms’ Accounts Pose Money-Laundering Risk
Source: Jho Low divests assets including artworks as US probe gathers steam