When analyzing the secret transfer of Nazi-looted art to museums and private collections, one may detect the use of multiple jurisdictions, nominees, forgeries or other common concealment methods. In some cases, these concealment methods are jointly employed to launder the title of looted artwork, similar to the way that illicit funds may be laundered. Furthermore, because… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Holocaust-Era Assets
Subscribe to Holocaust-Era Assets RSS FeedAsset Search News Roundup: July 4, 2012
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era Assets, Money LaunderingThe Holocaust-era assets of Hungarian Jews and the arrest of CEO Raymond Bitar: A supplemental amicus curiae brief filed in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, U.S. Supreme Court, Docket No. 10-1491, mentions that according to the Republic of Hungary, 500,000 Jews were killed during the Hungarian Holocaust. The brief filed on behalf of the Hungarian… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: December 26, 2011
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era AssetsMore than 20% of Europe’s art could have been looted by the Nazis during the Holocaust and in countless cases, the looted art was ultimately transferred to museums and private collections. When analyzing these transfers, one may detect the use of multiple jurisdictions, forgeries or other common concealment methods. Given the foregoing, this “Asset Search… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: December 11, 2011
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era Assets, Tax FraudIndividuals ranging from Nazi war criminals to tax fraudsters have long been known to secretly transfer assets by smuggling cash. Today’s “Asset Search News Roundup” focuses on this smuggling. The January 11, 1941 article “Confirms Nazi Money Hiding“, describes one Holocaust-era scheme in which Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering pocketed smuggled cash. Goering is mentioned… Continue Reading
Alleging Bank Liability For Holocaust-Era Looting In Hungary
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Financial Institutions, Holocaust-Era AssetsA class action complaint filed in Illinois alleges that five foreign banks are liable for the Holocaust-era looting of financial accounts belonging to Hungarian Jews. The heirs of some of the Hungarian Jews filed this complaint in the case known as Holocaust Victims of Bank Theft v. Magyar Nemzeti Bank, et. al., Index No. 10-CV-01884…. Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: June 8, 2011
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era Assets, Money LaunderingThe June 8th “Asset Search News Roundup” covers Holocaust-era assets and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. By its December 16, 2010 decision, the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the Holocaust-era assets case known as Grosz v. Museum of Modern Art. The December 16th decision is now the subject of a certiorari petition… Continue Reading
Seeking Holocaust-Era Restitution From A French Railway
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Financial Institutions, Holocaust-Era Assets"French Bank Agreement" indicates that Jewish Holocaust victims were paid restitution because French financial institutions had wrongfully seized Jewish-owned bank accounts during WWII. Holocaust victims who possess claims against the French railway Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF), might similarly receive restitution. These claimants seek compensation from SNCF because it was reportedly paid… Continue Reading
Following The Money Trails From Marital Assets To Nazi-Looted Art
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Bankruptcy, Divorce & Child Support, Holocaust-Era Assets, Money Laundering, Tax FraudNazi-looted art, bankruptcy estate assets, marital assets and almost anything else can conceivably be secretly transferred by common methods. Just a few of the common methods include the use of intermediaries (i.e. nominees), forgeries, portable valuable commodities and multiple jurisdictions to fraudulently transfer or hide assets. By studying these kinds of methods, the continuing legal education… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: January 21, 2011
Posted in Asset Search News, Financial Institutions, Holocaust-Era Assets, Public Corruption, Tax Fraud, White-Collar Crime GenerallyThe January 21st "Asset Search News Roundup" talks about tracking Nazi-looted art; a proposed rule for detecting bank deposits by foreigners; and the Haitian money trail. The Swiss have made available on the Internet the "FDHA/FDFA Report on the State of Work on looted Art during the National Socialist era, in particular, on the subject… Continue Reading
Some Recent Litigation Involving Alleged Nazi-Looted Art
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era Assets“During A War Everybody Loots A Little Bit” stated thatmore than 20% of Europe’s art was believed to have been looted by the Nazis. Just some of this art was eventually recovered at or near: Vicenza, Italy; Linz, Austria; the home of the Nazi Governor-General of Poland; the Seigen copper mine in Germany; and the… Continue Reading
“In New York, A Thief Can Not Pass Good Title”
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era AssetsIn overruling the trial court’s September 2, 2008 opinion in Bakalar v. Vavra, Index No. 05-CV-3037 (S.D.N.Y.), the U.S. Court of Appeals determined that the heirs of Austrian-Jewish entertainer Fritz Grunbaum could proceed with their Holocaust-era art restitution claim. According to the Court of Appeals’ September 2, 2010 decision, the trial court had wrongly applied… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: July 4, 2010
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era Assets, Money LaunderingThe July 4th "Asset Search News Roundup" concentrates on Rudolf Leopold and cross-border activities: Austrian museum director and art collector Rudolf Leopold died on Tuesday, as pointed out by both the Associated Press and the New York Times. According to the Copyright Litigation Blog’s July 2nd article, Mr. Leopold’s death basically raises the issue of… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: April 28, 2010
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era Assets, Securities FraudHolocaust-era assets and securities fraudster Trevor Cook are the focus of this week’s "Asset Search News Roundup": An April 21, 2010 Bloomberg.com article explained that Berlin’s Free University went live with its website about Holocaust-era assets / "degenerate" art confiscated by the Nazis. "During A War Everybody Loots A Little Bit", earlier mentioned that as… Continue Reading
The Grosz Case & Gallery Owner Curt Valentin
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era AssetsThe plaintiffs’ complaint in Grosz v. The Museum of Modern Art had alleged that The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA") was the wrongful transferee of three Holocaust-era paintings. The Court’s Order dismissed this contested provenance complaint last month on the ground that the complaint was barred by the statute of limitations. Since the Grosz complaint… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: December 18, 2009
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era AssetsHolocaust-era assets and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties are the subjects of this "Asset Search News Roundup": My article "During A War Everybody Loots A Little Bit", discusses Nazi-looted art. A December 1, 2009, press release also raises this issue. The December press release explains that U.S. authorities recently recovered a painting in a Holocaust-era assets… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: October 17, 2009
Posted in Asset Search News, Drug-Related Assets, Holocaust-Era AssetsHolocaust-era assets and drug-related assets are both covered by this “Asset Search News Roundup”: *My article “Searching For Nazi-Looted Art” described the Holocaust-era assets / contested provenance case ofBakalar v. Vavra, Index No. 05-CV-3037 (S.D.N.Y.). The trial court in Bakalar rejected the claim that Egon Schiele’s “Seated Woman With Bent Left Leg (Torso)” was Nazi-looted… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: September 16, 2009
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era Assets, Securities FraudThe criminal conviction of former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian; the death of suspected Ponzi schemer Danny Pang; and the dismissal of a Holocaust-era assets case; are the subjects of this week’s "Asset Search News Roundup": Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian’s arrest was discussed in the November 19, 2008 "Asset Search News Roundup". As the New… Continue Reading
“During A War Everybody Loots A Little Bit”
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era Assets“Goering Hoards Nudes, Jingles Emeralds in Catalog of Looted Art“, quotes Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering as having said: “During a war everybody loots a little bit“. The May 28, 1945 Time Magazine article “Art: Goring’s Beauties“, valued Goering’s collection of Nazi-looted art at $200,000,000. Here is a June 9, 1945 photograph of part of that art… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: June 25, 2009
Posted in Asset Search News, Holocaust-Era AssetsOn October 6, 2008 I wrote that an asset search / investigation focusing on Nazi-looted art could culminate in a Holocaust-related art restitution case. Holocaust-era art restitution cases are also going to be discussed at the "Holocaust Era Assets Conference", which starts tomorrow. This conference is being held in the Czech Republic and Nobel Laureate… Continue Reading
Laundering Holocaust-Era Loot?
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era Assets, Money LaunderingIn Grosz v. The Museum of Modern Art, the plaintiffs allege that The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA") acquired three Holocaust-era paintings which had been stolen from expressionist and Dadist painter George Grosz. These particular paintings have been possessed by MoMA since the 1940′s or 1950′s and are: "Republican Automatons", "Self-Portrait with a Model" and… Continue Reading
Holocaust-Era Art Restitution Revisited
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era Assets"Germany Rejects Call for End to Restitution of Nazi-Looted Art" raises the issue of Holocaust-era art restitution. The upcoming "Holocaust Era Assets Conference" in Prague on June 26-30 2009, will of course also deal with the very same thing. New York’s Museum of Modern Art meanwhile, filed a complaint along with The Solomon R. Guggenheim… Continue Reading
Mr. Curt Valentin’s Nazi-Looted Art
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era Assets, Nazi-Looted AssetsAs I mention at “Searching For Nazi-Looted Art“, the most challenging asset searches / investigations can be those in a Holocaust-related art restitution case. The October 30, 2008, Minneapolis Star Tribune article “MIA sends Nazi ‘loot’ home to Paris“, suggests the very same thing. It explains that the Minneapolis Institute of Arts engaged in ten… Continue Reading
Searching For Nazi-Looted Art
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Holocaust-Era AssetsPerhaps most challenging, are asset searches and / or investigations seeking to uncover Nazi-looted art. Such searches can ultimately end up in the filing of a Holocaust-related art restitution case. As suggested at the article "Thousands of Nazi-Looted Works Are Held by Museums, Survey Says", lawyers, auction houses, genealogists and art detectives, may all have… Continue Reading