Imprisonment in Britain for a German artist in fraud

Angela Gulbenkian (40 years old).

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Yesterday, a British court sentenced a German woman to three and a half years in prison for taking advantage of her husband's family's reputation in the art world to fraudulently sell a work of art to save money for her lavish life.

Angela Gulbenkian, 40, was convicted of two frauds, valued at more than one million pounds ($1.4 million).

In May 2017, she sold to Hong Kong-based Art Incorporated for 982,000 pounds ($1.3 million) a work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, a giant yellow spotted pumpkin, even though she did not own it.

In 2018, she persuaded her friend Jackie Paul, who lives in London, to entrust her savings of 50,000 pounds ($70,000) to put her in the art market, but she took the money and did not keep her promise, and did not return the money to her until the theft was reported to the police.

The accused, who is married to sports agent Duarte Gulbenkian, used her husband's family name, belonging to an important artistic family, to convince her victims that she was an artistic medium, so that they entrusted her with their savings.

Prosecutor Laura Hoon said during the trial that Angela Gulbenkian "used her marital status and connections in the art world to suggest that her criminal activities were legitimate."

The accused pleaded guilty to both counts, explaining to the Sathic Crown Court in London, that she had squandered the spoils to spend on her luxurious lifestyle, which saw a major decline when her husband fell out with his family.

She explained that she spent 121,000 pounds (169,000 dollars) on travel, 56,000 pounds (78,000 dollars) on artwork, and other amounts on luxury goods and aircraft rental.

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