Big win for private collector in LitFin funded art theft litigation

In a huge win for Uthman Khatib, a private art collector seeking to recover around 871 Russian avant-garde paintings he says were stolen from him by Mozes Frisch, the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris has ruled that 135 paintings worth over €200m seized by the French authorities from leading Paris art authenticator ArtAnalysis include works that collector Mr Khatib is seeking to recover in German litigation proceedings against Mr Frisch.

The claim, which reads like the plot of a James Bond movie, is being brought by international law firm Dentons on behalf of Mr Khatib and is being funded by LitFin. Mr Khatib states that the art was stolen by Mr Frisch, who subsequently claimed to own the works with another supposed art collector named Olivia Amar.

After the works were seized as part of a criminal investigation by the German police, Mr Frisch, Ms Amar and Laurette Thomas, the owner of ArtAnalysis, attempted to have the seizure overturned. The court rejected these attempts, with key findings including that:

• “Mr Uthman Khatib should be considered to have a claim arising from his ownership of works of art, which were appropriated by Mr Mozes Frisch, who has started to sell some of them.”

• Ms Amar’s “claimed ownership is called into question by her silence when the said works were seized as part of a criminal investigation by the German police;” and by her lack of involvement in previous disputes over ownership.

• “Before 2013 the paintings were not in the ownership or possession of the Amar family, or anyone related to them. From our research, we can ascertain that the provenance given is falsified.”

The paintings will be held by the Paris court bailiff while a judgment is sought in Frankfurt over these and hundreds of further paintings Mr Khatib believes stolen by Mr Frisch.

Gabriel Olearnik, Partner, Head of Special Situations at LitFin, said:

"The continued success of the Khatib claim showcases the effectiveness of lawyers, investigators and litigation financers working together."