High-End Art Dealer Accused of Defrauding Basquiat Investor

A blue-chip art dealer with galleries in London and Miami is facing a worldwide freeze on his assets amid allegations that he defrauded an investor in a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting by inflating its price by about $6 million.

Inigo Philbrick, 32, was accused in an Oct. 30 filing in London’s High Court of misleading Satfinance Investment Ltd. into paying $12.2 million toward the acquisition of the Basquiat painting “Humidity” on the understanding that the purchase price was $18.4 million. Satfinance says the painting was actually purchased for $12.5 million.