US dealer fined for art tax dodge
A GLOBAL crack-down on suspected tax evasion in the rarified world of fine art and antiques has led to the conviction of one of the world's leading antique silver dealers.
The up-market New York gallery SJ Shrubsole has been fined $150,000 (£91,700) after pleading guilty to charges of failing to collect almost $1m of city and state sales taxes and falsifying tax returns.
The unpaid tax relates to antique English silver candelabras, soup tureens, bowls, mugs, tankards and coffee pots worth up to $100,000 each. In some cases customers took delivery in New York but SJ Shrubsole staff drew up documents stating that they had been shipped out of the state.
SJ Shrubsole is one of the world's most powerful antique silver dealers and has been based in New York since 1936. It was founded in London in 1912 by Sidney Shrubsole, whose 90-year-old son Eric still runs the business.
The conviction is the third of its kind in New York in recent weeks. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said his department is still investigating alleged tax avoidance by other dealers and customers.
The scale of the scam was first highlighted by the resignation of disgraced Tyco boss Dennis Kozlowski last year. He was accused of dodging $1m of sales tax at fine art exhibitions.
