British buyer of Imelda's Monet painting pays Martial Law victims $10 million – report

(Updated 11:20 p.m.) The British billionaire who bought a $43-million Claude Monet painting that once belonged to Imelda Marcos has reportedly paid $10 million to a group of Martial Law victims who want to recover proceeds from the sale.

According to the Daily Telegraph, hedge fund manager Alan Howard decided to take action after discovering that he risks losing the Monet masterpiece because of a legal dispute in the United States involving Marcos' former aide, Vilma Bautista. 

Bautista is accused of conniving with seven individuals to sell the painting — known as "Japanese Footbridge Over the Water-Lily Pond"— and attempting to sell other valuable paintings despite lacking the authority to do so.

The painting was originally sold to Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox for $32.16 million in September 2012. Howard purchased it from the London gallery later that year for $43 million.

 

She is currently facing charges of conspiracy and tax fraud in Manhattan, New York.

 

The artwork, which disappeared after President Ferdinand Marcos' ouster in 1986, ended up in Bautista's hands and is part of a multibillion-dollar roster of property the Philippines claims the Marcoses acquired with the nation's cash, an Associated Press report said.

 

The group of human rights victims, represented by freelance photographer Jose Duran, has been simultaneously filing separate lawsuits to recover Marcos' assets in the US.

 

The former Philippine first lady's aide said, however, that she had a 1991 "Certificate of Authority" from Imelda to sell the painting and receive the proceeds.

 

But the petitioners claimed in court documents filed in September that the $30 million from the allegedly "fraudulent" sale of the painting went to Bautista and her colleagues, and not to the former first lady.

Petitioners also said the certificate of authority was tampered to include the Monet painting "to mislead (a) potential buyer to believe Bautista has the authority to sell the painting."

 

The British billionaire has claimed that he purchased the painting in good faith despite being aware that Marcos once owned it. He said the gallery's legal advisers assured him it was safe to buy the Monet.

 

Anthony Payne, a spokesman for Howard, said he "bought the painting in good faith from a reputable gallery and received expert legal advice on the purchase. In light of these proceedings, Mr. Howard is examining available legal redress. He has no further comment on the proceedings."

 

Howard is reportedly planning on taking legal action against Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox. — JDS, GMA News