Mr Alfred Taubman, the billionaire owner and former chairman of Sotheby's, will appear in a New York court today to answer charges that he conspired with the then chairman of Christie's, Sir Anthony Tennant, to fix commissions at the world's two largest auction houses during the 1990s. Sir Anthony, former head of Guinness, has refused to travel to New York to appear before US District Judge George Daniels. He is in England and, as a British subject, cannot be extradited. Under British law, only companies and not individuals can be charged with price-fixing. Mr Taubman (76) and Sir Anthony (70) were indicted last week in a US district court in Manhattan on federal antitrust charges of collusion in dealing with clients between 1993 and 1999. They face maximum penalties of three years in prison and fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The indictment alleged that the two men, former pillars of the art establishment, were the masterminds of a scheme to raise and fix fees charged to sellers of fine art, jewellery, antiquarian books and furniture in the £3.5-billion (€4.4-billion) worldwide auction market. Both deny the charges.
Sir Anthony's spokesman said in a statement in London that "as a UK subject, Sir Anthony is not subject to the jurisdiction of the US courts and accordingly he will not be taking part in any pending proceedings".
The statement also claimed he was "completely innocent" of the price-fixing charges. The indictments come after a four-year investigation during which Mr Taubman, an avid art collector who made his fortune in Detroit shopping malls, and Sir Anthony, the Eton-educated businessman brought in to clean up Guinness after the share-rigging scandal of the 1980s, resigned from their top positions in the art houses. Sotheby's and Christie's, which control 95 per cent of the world's high-end auction market, have between them paid some $537 million (€602 million) to settle a civil action brought by 130,000 clients who claimed they were cheated. Sotheby's has pleaded guilty to price-fixing and has been fined $45 million. Mr Taubman has agreed to pay $156 million of the $537 million amount.
In October, Diana (DeDe) Brooks, Sotheby's former president and chief executive, admitted charges of violating antitrust laws and agreed to co-operate in taking a case against Mr Taubman, who remains Sotheby's controlling shareholder. She will be sentenced on May 23rd. Mr Taubman said in a statement: "I am absolutely innocent and have stated from the begining of this investigation that whatever DeDe Brooks chose to do, she did on her own and without authorisation." The indictment charges that, between 1993 and 1999, Mr Taubman and Sir Anthony met in the US and abroad to fix commission rates and exchanged customer information to monitor and enforce the fees.
Lawyers involved in the case said the testimony of Brooks and Mr Christopher Davidge, former chief executive of Christie's, was crucial in the indictment. Both claim they met at the instigation of Mr Taubman and Sir Anthony. Mr Davidge obtained immunity from prosecution when he agreed to co-operate with prosecutors and handed over 500 pages of documents. The New York Times reported that these included memorandums to Sir Anthony describing aspects of Mr Davidge's meetings with Brooks, said to have taken place in limousines and secluded restaurants.
