Singapore’s court of appeal has unfrozen the assets of the Swiss businessman and “freeport king”, Yves Bouvier. The worldwide Mareva injunction, which had been imposed on Bouvier in March after civil proceedings that were started in a Singapore court, prevented him from disposing of any personal assets worth up to $500m.
The injunction came after a criminal complaint filed in Monaco in January by the family trusts controlled by Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Russian billionaire and owner of AS Monaco football club, who accused Bouvier of complicity in money laundering and fraud.
Rybolovlev claims Bouvier overcharged him by $1bn on the sale of 38 works of art between 2003 and 2014. Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 1498-1506, and Modigliani’s Nu couché au coussin bleu, 1916, are thought to be among the works involved. Bouvier denies all charges.
Despite accepting that it “should not wade into the merits in a case such as this”, which is at an interlocutory stage, the Singapore court raised questions about Rybolovlev’s claims. The Rybolovlev family trusts “received what they bargained for and at the price they were willing to pay”, according to the judgment. However, the court also acknowledged there was a “good arguable case of dishonesty” on Bouvier’s part.
“On one view, there will be no fraud at all: Mr Bouvier can be seen as a wily businessman who employed a questionable (and perhaps barely legal), although ultimately profitable, approach to business. On another, Mr Bouvier can be seen as an errant agent who is liable to the respondents for fraudulent misrepresentation or breach of fiduciary duties,” the judgment said.
Tetiana Bersheda, the lawyer representing Rybolovlev and the Rybolovlev family trusts, says she notes the Singapore court’s decision, but adds that it is “only part of a much wider set of legal actions”, which were first triggered in Monaco. “The decision does not in any way prejudice the work of investigators and judges in the French and Monegasque jurisdictions.”