No Crime
"Mr. Shvo looks forward to his day in court where he will mount a defense to all charges related to his art business and is confident he will be acquitted," his spokesman Ronn Torossian said in an e-mailed statement. "While Mr. Shvo is prominent in the art world, he has not committed any crime nor did he act with any criminal intent whatsoever.”
A regular presence at art fairs and auctions, Shvo took on a more public role in 2013 when he partnered with a Chelsea gallery to convert a former Getty gas station by the High Line into a pop-up art installation featuring 25 sheep sculptures by a French artist duo known as Les Lalanne. The lot, where the bronze-and-epoxy flock grazed amid old pumps, would later become the site of a luxury condo tower designed by architect and collector Peter Marino.
His collection includes works by Andy Warhol and Takashi Murakami. In 2010, he paid $1.9 million for Tom Wesselmann’s shaped canvas, “Mouth no. 8," at Christie’s auction in New York.
Manhattan Developer
Shvo, a former Manhattan real estate broker who closed his eponymous firm during the financial crisis, re-emerged in recent years as a developer. He has more than $4 billion worth of high-end apartments under construction in Manhattan.
Shvo’s case is the first for criminal tax evasion related to artworks brought by the Manhattan District Attorney since a spate of charges were filed a decade ago. Those were sparked by publicity from the sales-tax prosecution of L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former Tyco International Ltd. chief executive officer.
Vance also filed a related civil action seeking forfeiture of funds earned by Shvo and two of his companies during the alleged scheme. Vance has obtained a temporary freeze on at least $1.5 million of Shvo’s assets.
The case is The People of the State of New York v. Shvo, 03341-2016, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.