Yves Bouvier arrested in Monaco over overpricing of artworks with Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev among alleged victims of fraud

A high-profile Swiss businessman and art broker has been arrested in Monaco over alleged manipulation of prices on the art market, in an investigation that could spread across several countries and shed light on the secretive world of fabulously wealthy private art collectors.

Yves Bouvier, who runs a major international art shipping and storage business, remained in police custody on Thursday after a judge ruled that he could be detained for further questioning following his arrest in Monaco on Wednesday. Two other people – a couple resident in Monaco – were also being questioned.

The Monaco attorney general, Jean-Pierre Dréno, told the Guardian that three Swiss nationals had been arrested as part of an inquiry into suspected “fraud relating to works of art”.

The amount of money allegedly defrauded through the suspected overpricing of artworks was not specified and it was unclear how many wealthy international collectors might have been affected.

The investigation is believed to centre on inflating prices in very big art transactions in which Bouvier was an intermediary. One family among the alleged victims was that of Dmitry Rybolovlev, the 48-year-old Russian magnate who owns Monaco football club.

Rybolovlev, who made his fortune in potassium mining and fertilisers, has a family art collection that is thought to be worth up to $1bn (£650m) and includes works by Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and Gauguin.

Ranked 156th on the Forbes billionaires list, Rybolovlev has a net worth of £5.5bn. Tetiana Bersheda, a lawyer for the Rybolovlev family, confirmed that police in Monaco had launched an investigation into Bouvier, who she called “one of the most famous people in the world of art”.

“After having worked for more than 10 years with Mr Bouvier, the Rybolovlev family received some information about possible fraud and manipulation of prices on the art market by Mr Bouvier and his accomplices,” Bersheda said in a statement.

“The case is currently under investigation by the police and judicial authorities of Monaco. We fully trust the justice [system] to carry on the investigation and the professionalism of the Monaco authorities … We do not wish at this juncture to comment on the ongoing procedure.”



Bouvier, who organised the first Moscow international fine art fair in 2004, is head of an important art-shipping firm. He pioneered and owns Freeports – state-of-the-art storage facilities attached to airports in places such as Luxembourg and Singapore, in which very high value artworks, wines and luxury goods can be held, legally, in duty-free zones.

In an interview last month with Spear’s magazine, Bouvier, describing the Freeport concept and the current crop of global art buyers, said: “Collectors have a problem: they buy too much. They are addicts. They have space at home for one and they buy 10.”

Bouvier is based in Geneva, where the Swiss paper Le Temps described his arrest as “an earthquake on the art market and in the closed circle of international collectors”. Contacted via his Geneva firm, Bouvier’s communication service did not respond.