Emily Chan
After serving less than four years of a seven-year sentence, art dealer Inigo Philbrick was released from prison in February 2024. He was responsible for one of the biggest frauds in the history of the art world, scamming his clients out of an estimated $86 million.
Philbrick was born in East London. When he was in high school, he struggled with excessive drinking and doing drugs. He grew up wanting to be a lawyer but became fascinated with the art world.
He quickly rose through the ranks of the art scene in London, opening up a gallery at the age of 24. In 2018, he opened a second one in Miami. From there, he became involved in a major art fraud case spanning from 2016 to 2019.
His success came to an end after he was caught on the remote island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. He fled to the island in 2019 with his reality TV star girlfriend, Victoria Baker-Harber, when the lawsuits and debts started piling up.
He was accused of defrauding clients by selling the same shares in famous artworks, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Humidity” and a Pablo Picasso portrait, to numerous investors. He also created fake identities, forged contracts, and used multiple off-shore accounts to move funds around.
One other person was charged in the case, and that person was Robert Newland, Philbrick’s partner in crime. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Philbrick had hired Newland in 2012 to help manage his finances. He claimed that Newland was the mastermind of the scheme, even though his punishment wasn’t as severe as his.
While in the Metropolitan Correctional Center prison, Philbrick shared a cramped cell with other inmates, a major downgrade from the luxurious lifestyle he was accustomed to.
His cellmates included a former police officer turned serial killer, Nicholas Tartaglione, who had previously bunked with Jeffrey Epstein, and Keith Raniere, a cult leader.
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