Salander - O'Reilly Galleries

Client

Salander O’Reilly Galleries was one of New York’s premiere art galleries located in Manhattan that handled art ranging from Renaissance/Old Masters to Modern Contemporary with annual sales of approximately $80 million.

Challenge

The Gallery was embroiled in litigation from numerous parties claiming fraud and misappropriation of artwork and funds. A criminal investigation was opened by the New York State District Attorney’s office which resulted in the seizure of the Gallery’s computers and paper documents. This precipitated the Gallery’s closure and subsequent filing for Bankruptcy protection. A Creditors’ Committee was formed and charged with: spearheading a forensic investigation into missing artwork and funds, developing and implementing a process to recover missing artwork, creating a Protocol process to identify and return consigned artwork in the possession of the Gallery to its proper owner, to sell the Gallery’s artwork to maximize recovery to the Unsecured Creditors.

Solution

Bridge was engaged by the Committee for the Unsecured Creditors to organize and lead the forensic investigation. Our team worked diligently to create an elaborate relational database tying together disparate pieces of information from various sources to create a platform on which to launch and perform a thorough investigation.

Results

The investigation is currently ongoing, but early successes have included uncovering previously undisclosed bank accounts used by the Gallery and related parties, transfers of artwork to parties for inadequate or no consideration, and misappropriation of cash to related parties.