Ben Lewis

I’m waiting for a producer or commissioning editor who can see what an iconic feature documentary or true-crime drama this story would make. Here is my account of the greatest alleged art fraud in history.

When Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev is spotted, it is usually in salubrious surroundings over which he enjoys full control. Perhaps he’s gazing serenely out from his $300 million Monaco penthouse; reclining in his Airbus private jet applauding in the royal box at AS Monaco, the football team in which he owns a majority share; or celebrating a victory in his $20 million racing yacht, Skorpios, which is named after the Greek island he also owns. But in January, the 57-year-old businessman, whose fortune is estimated at between $6 billion and $7 billion, found himself somewhere less glamorous. He was photographed walking into a Manhattan courtroom. He wore a modest dark navy suit, a coat draped like a cloak over his shoulders and an anxious look. After a nine-year legal battle, in which one development after another had gone against him, this seemed like a final chance to obtain what he considered to be justice…. In Spears Magazine, 10th April 2024