Things are seldom as they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream. — Buttercup, in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore
Which gets me to Bill Pallot. I’m sure you’ve all heard of this guy. Vanity Fair called him “the world’s leading expert on the works of 18th-century France”. However, Paris Match recently branded him “the Bernie Madoff of art.”
You see, Pallot and a couple of associates produced a few chairs that they authenticated as historical pieces that once adorned the rooms of the likes of Queen Marie Antoinette and Madame du Barry, the mistress of King Louis XV. They then arranged to sell these chairs to the wealthy and the opulent, including the Palace of Versailles and a handful of billionaires, among them the Qatari royal family.
After a lengthy investigation, fraud charges were laid. Pallot was sentenced to four years in the slammer and fined about 200,000 euros. A lawyer for Versailles, Corinne Hershkovitch, commented that Pallot and others got off too easily. I beg to differ. Given the circumstances of the “crimes”, I say they should not even have been charged. There should be laws exempting criminal proceedings in certain instances, or at the very least, there should be legal defences in these cases. Let me elaborate.
Firstly, we have the defence of caveat buyer, or in this case, buyer stupidity. Just because some so-called expert says that Marie Antoinette once sat in this chair, is that a good reason to fork over gazillions of euros? Would you do it? I’ll bet the Versailles minions would probably even have reacted positively had they received a call saying there is a special this week on duct cleaning, as Acme Inc., the official duct cleaner for Madame Du Barry, is in the Versailles neighbourhood. “Mais oui. Venez”.
Then there is the defence relating to the buyer’s financial means. We are, after all, talking Qatari royal family and Versailles Palace, not some poor seniors getting scammed by a fake CRA rogue. These guys almost asked for it. The message they projected was virtually, “We’re wealthy, help yourselves”. I say they would have bought these chairs on expert Pallot’s endorsement, even if the furniture had stickers reading “Ikea”.
I know the victims’ means aren’t generally taken into account, but I think of Robin Hood. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor. I have yet to see Robin Hood get bad press. Nor have I seen many people joining the fan club of the Sheriff of Nottingham. I say not guilty.
Another defence should be buyer vanity. People with money to burn will buy anything. I note that there have been a couple of auctions where they sold off Queen Victoria’s clothing, including her bloomers. One, which bore the initials “VR”, went for over ￡9,000. Wow!
Of interest is that the buyer chose to remain anonymous. Not surprised. I wonder if there was an expert out there authenticating these huge (size 46) bloomers. I’d love to see this maven’s business card. “Looking for royal bloomers? Forget Victoria’s Secret; ask Joel”.
I should add that the court also banned Pallot from acting as an art expert for five years. I’d say this was overkill. Surely, he was going to have some problems getting work with a CV that included a four-year stint at the Bastille for fraud. Actually, the Bastille is no longer a jail, but then again, would Pallot be concerned about accuracy?
I say art is all about vanity, which should also be a valid defence to fraud. Consider that an installation comprised of a banana taped to a canvas sold for seven figures. Art? I get bananas at Sobeys for 79 cents a pound, and duct tape at the Dollar Store for $1.25.
If you want one of these suckers cheap, let me know: 100% Chiquita. I’ll even leave the sticker on.
I have little sympathy for the on-steroids rich and vain getting duped. After all, even the good book suggests that a fool and his money are soon parted. This was bound to happen. Sacré bleu.
I’m retired from the practice of law. However, given this story, I am considering posting an ad on Kijiji offering to sell an iconic bridge in New York City. No doubt, it will attract serious interest.
Marcel Strigberger retired from his Greater Toronto Area litigation practice and continues the more serious business of humorous author and speaker. His book, Boomers, Zoomers, and Other Oomers: A Boomer-biased Irreverent Perspective on Aging, is available on Amazon (e-book) and in paper version. His new(!) book First, Let’s Kill the Lawyer Jokes: An Attorney’s Irreverent Serious Look at the Legal Universe is available on Amazon, Apple and other book places. Visit www.marcelshumour.com. Follow him on X @MarcelsHumour.
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Fraud is fraud. And the notion that different rules apply if you defraud the dumb rich is fallacious. Contributory negligence may play a part but the idea of misdirection and disregard for anything genuine is too prevalent in politics today to give dishonesty a pass.