Yves Bouvier (born 8 September 1963) is a Swiss businessman and
art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art.
An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...
best known for his role in
the Bouvier Affair that resulted in criminal charges being brought and dismissed against him in France and Monaco by Russian oligarch
Dmitry Rybolovlev
Dmitry Yevgenyevich Rybolovlev (, ; born 22 November 1966) is a Russian oligarch, billionaire businessman, and investor.
Rybolovlev became chairman of the Russian fertilizer producer Uralkali in 1995. In 2010, he sold his majority share of ...
. He was the president of Natural Le Coultre, an international company specialising in the transportation, storage, scientific analysis, and conservation of works of art, luxurious goods and other collectables.
Bouvier has faced lawsuits filed by Rybolovlev in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Monaco, and Geneva since 2015. All legal proceedings, however, have been dismissed by the authorities.
In December 2023 Bouvier and Rybolovlev were reported to have reached an agreement and set aside all of their remaining legal disputes in all jurisdictions.
In September 2017, it emerged that Bouvier was under criminal investigation by Swiss authorities amid allegations that he may have evaded more than 100 million euros in taxes related to his cross-border art dealings.
Early life
Yves Bouvier was born in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Switzerland,
the son of Jean-Jacques Bouvier, owner of Natural Le Coultre, a 150-year-old company specialized in moving and storing goods.
He spent his childhood in
Avully, a small village situated near the border with France. He had a sister who was born with a disability and died later in life.
Yves Bouvier developed an early interest in art and dropped out of college to join his father's company in the eighties.
Business career
Natural Le Coultre
Natural Transports was formed in 1859 as a moving and furniture storage company. It later became Natural Le Coultre
in 1901, when Albert-Maurice Natural joined Emile-Étienne Le Coultre to create A. Natural, Le Coultre & Cie. The company's office was located in Geneva. The firm was mainly dealing with commodity deliveries, including fruits, equipment and Red Cross parcels during the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
In 1953, Jean-Jacques Bouvier began an
apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
at Natural Le Coultre S.A. 30 years later in 1983, the Bouvier family acquired Natural Le Coultre.
In 1989, Jean-Jacques and Yves Bouvier formed Fine Art Transports Natural Le Coultre SA in Geneva, which provided moving and furniture storage services to the local companies. Hoping that Yves would keep leading the family business, Jean-Jacques Bouvier promoted his son to the position of assistant manager in 1995 and then managing director in 1997, selling the moving and furniture storage activities to a local company to focus the company on storing, moving, and preserving pieces of art.
Yves Bouvier moved to Singapore in 2009 where he currently resides.
Under Bouvier's control, Natural Le Coultre owned 5 per cent of the
Geneva freeport, but the company was sold to André Chenue, a
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
ian shipping firm, in 2017 for an undisclosed amount.
In 2017, in line with the investigation into Bouvier's potential tax-evasion, Federal Tax Administration (FTA) officials temporarily sequestered one of Natural Le Coultre's buildings in Geneva, worth 4.5 million
Swiss franc
The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...
s.
Freeport facilities
Bouvier exported the freeport concept, and in 2005, expanded his business model abroad by creating "artistic hubs" grouped into
freeport facilities that offer services and rental facilities to art collectors, museums and companies,
expanding into Singapore in 2010 and Luxembourg in 2014. Another facility was planned in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
for 2017, though the project has been suspended.
The freeports have been subject to increased scrutiny by authorities and governments in recent years. For example, a study by the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
’s think tank described their high security and discretion as a risk for
tax evasion
Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...
and
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
. A
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
report also concluded that these facilities "could be abused for trade of
counterfeit
A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...
ed goods, money laundering and other crime if no sufficient checks are carried out to identify the owners of companies using them." Furthermore, a 2016
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
report detailed the possibility that freeports can be used by art dealers to trade stolen,
looted or illegally excavated objects, even many years later. The facilities have been alleged to be a point of sale for expensive art, for example, to museums.
Geneva Freeport
The oldest freeport facility, the
Swiss government
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west ...
holds the majority stake of 85 per cent with Bouvier holding a 5 per cent stake. Bouvier sold his majority participation in 2017 after the Swiss government passed stricter oversight rules over
customs
Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...
warehouses.
According to media reports, the freeport has been linked to the trafficking of looted artifacts from Syria, and is regarded as a risk for
money-laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds into ...
and
tax-evasion operations by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
.
Singapore Freeport
Bouvier built a subsidiary to the Geneva freeport in Singapore in 2010, after the idea was floated with the
Singaporean government as early as 2005. The facilities host primarily works of art, but
vintage car
A vintage car is, in the most general sense, an old automobile, and in the narrower senses of car enthusiasts and collectors, it is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930, Either a "survivor" or one that has been fixed up according to the or ...
s, wine, jewellery, and
gold bar
A gold bar, also known as gold bullion or a gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold that can be shaped in various forms, produced under standardized conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record-keeping. Larger varieties of gold ...
s of
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
...
until July 2019, when the bank ceased its usage of the facility. Unlike in Geneva's freeport, in which Bouvier is a minority stakeholder, he holds a majority stake in the Singapore facility, describing the idea of the facility a "great success."
The Singapore freeport has been for sale since 2017.
In 2022, Bouvier sold the Singapore freeport to a company of a Chinese crypto billionaire
Jihan Wu
Jihan Wu (; born 1986) is a Chinese billionaire cryptocurrency entrepreneur. Together with Micree Zhan, he co-founded Bitmain in 2013, which has become the world's largest computer chip company for bitcoin mining, with US$2.5 billion in revenue ...
for S$40 million (US$28.4 million). In 2010, the cost of building the facility that later came to be known as Asia’s “Fort Knox” was S$100 million, or about US$70 million.
Luxembourg Freeport
The freeport was inaugurated on 17 September 2014. It has been under criticism from the EU since 2018 when it was found to be an enabler for tax evasion by two MEPs. German MEP
Wolf Klinz in 2019 demanded the freeport be closed for its alleged role in facilitating money laundering and tax evasion.
After another visit to the facility later that year, several more MEPs echoed the call to phase out freeports across the EU, calling them a “black hole” beyond the authorities’ control. In 2024, Bouvier sold his shareholding in what is now called the Luxembourg High Security Hub to his business partner Olivier Thomas, a former president and early investor in the facility. The transaction price has not been disclosed.
Other contributions
In 2004 Bouvier founded the company Art Culture Studio which organizes cultural events, restores furniture, and provides support to the Renaissance Foundation for Russian Country Homes, a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
that supports research on the restoration of cultural and historic buildings in rural areas. Art Culture Studio helped renovate the 18th-century furniture for the
boudoir
A (; ) is a woman's private sitting room or salon in a furnished residence, usually between the dining room and the bedroom, but can also refer to a woman's private bedroom. The term derives from the French verb ''bouder'' (to sulk or pout ...
of
Empress Josephine in 2012.
He initiated and chaired the Moscow World Fine Art Fair in 2004, a yearly exhibition taking place in May for art dealers and collectors.
He also contributed to the establishment of the
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
World Fine Art Fair.
In 2015, Bouvier initiated the creation of the Singapore
Pinacothèque de Paris, an expansion of
Pinacothèque de Paris. The museum was closed in 2016 without explanation. Art Heritage Singapore, the company behind the project and of which Bouvier was a shareholder, was subsequently sued by media and security companies involved in the project for almost $900,000.
Bouvier was involved with the "pôle R4" project, an artistic "micro-city" on the site of a former Renault factory in
Seguin Island, Paris. The project, designed by French architect
Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...
, was until September 2016 managed and financed by Bouvier, and was scheduled to open in 2017. In September 2016 it was announced that Bouvier had sold his entire stake to the Emerige Group and its financial partner,
Addax
The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...
and
Oryx
''Oryx'' ( ) is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight and annulated. The exception is the sci ...
Group Limited (AOG).
Artnet noted that the transaction frees the project from its association from Bouvier.
Yves Bouvier was also an executive of an energy drinks company Sin Thirst Sin, which apparently never properly produced or marketed its beverages.
Lawsuits
Dispute with Dmitry Rybolovlev
In 2015, Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev accused Yves Bouvier of defrauding him out of nearly $1 billion via the sale of artwork at inflated prices while he was employed as a consultant and was receiving a commission of 2 per cent on the value of each purchase.
Bouvier has denied all claims, stating that he presented himself as the seller of the artwork, rather than an adviser and that the 2 percent fee related to the transportation, storage and certification service that he provided.
Yves Bouvier met Rybolovlev for the first time in 2003, when he came to see him for the occasion of the delivery of the
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
painting, ''
Le Cirque''. Tania Rappo, a friend of the Rybolovlev family, organized the purchase of Marc Chagall's ''Le Cirque'' painting for $6 million. When the painting arrived at the premises of Natural Le Coultre, located in the Geneva freeport, the canvas did not have a certificate of authenticity guaranteeing that the artwork was an original. Rybolovlev feared he had been scammed, but Bouvier acquired the certificate a few days later and requested Rappo to organize a meeting with the Rybolovlev at their home in
Cologny
Cologny () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
History
Cologny is first mentioned in 1208 as ''Colognier''.
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Neolithic lake side village which was discovered near the village ...
. Rybolovlev did not know then that the Finatrading company, which had sold him the Chagall, was in fact the property of Yves Bouvier. Bouvier promised Rappo that he would give her a commission for every work sold to Rybolovlev, for introducing him to the billionaire.
Bouvier subsequently acquired a total of 38 artworks between 2003 and 2014 for Rybolovlev, including
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
,
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
and
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
.
As reported in media, the Russian learned of the alleged fraud from Sandy Heller, an art adviser who had sold
Modigliani's ''Nude on a blue cushion'' for $93.5 million to Bouvier, who then sold it to Rybolovlev for $118 million. This prompted Rybolovlev to file for fraud and money laundering in Monaco.
In February 2015, Bouvier was arrested in Monaco on suspicion of defrauding Dmitry Rybolovlev. Bouvier was released on a €10 million bail. He was accused of fraud as a result of excessive margins on the sale of paintings, such as on Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi with a margin of €50 million. Rybolovlev learned from a ''New York Times'' article that the painting had been sold for $75 million in 2013, although he had paid Bouvier $127.5 million for it. Bouvier denied all accusations, argued that he first heard about the complaint was when he was arrested, and that the price of the paintings had been agreed by both parties. Bouvier also called for an investigation into
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
’s provision of a letter to Monaco police that falsely stated that he and a co-defendant in a money laundering case, Tania Rappo, shared an account at the bank. HSBC responded that this was a simple and clerical mistake.
In March 2015, Singapore's High Court ordered the global freezing of Bouvier's assets, but it was reported that the assets were unfrozen in August of that year on the grounds that Rybolovlev's approach constituted an abuse of process.
In November 2015, Rybolovlev and his lawyer Tetiana Bersheda were briefly placed in custody in Monaco following a complaint filed by Tania Rappo. Rappo accused Rybolovlev’s lawyer of invasion of privacy. Bersheda earlier recorded a private conversation during a private dinner with Rappo and Rybolovlev, in an attempt to prove that Rappo was Yves Bouvier’s accomplice.
Rappo also accused Dmitry Rybolovlev and Monaco’s former public prosecutor, Jean-Pierre Dreno, of the collusion.
In March 2016, the High Court of Singapore dismissed Bouvier's attempt to suspend the civil suit filed in the territory, but the case was transferred to the Singapore International Commercial Court, which deals specifically with cross-border commercial disputes. In May 2016, Bouvier's lawyers filed an appeal against the High Court's ruling, arguing the case should be heard in Switzerland rather than Singapore.
In March 2016, following the lead of European authorities, US Federal prosecutors opened an investigation into Bouvier, whom they described as "one of the art world’s consummate insiders."
In April 2016, Bouvier entered a new phase of his campaign to clear his name by hiring global PR group, CNC Communications & Network Consulting, part of French giant
Publicis Groupe
Publicis Groupe S.A. is a French multinational advertising and public relations company. As of 2024, the company is the largest advertising company in the world by revenue. Based in Paris, it is one of the 'Big Four' advertising commpanies, al ...
.
On 18 April 2017, the Singapore Court of Appeal overturned the High Court's decision, ruling that the case should be heard in Switzerland and ordering the action in Singapore to be stayed.
At the beginning of 2017, in the context of her defence, Tetiana Bersheda handed over her mobile phone to the Monaco police to allow the offending recording to be examined. Bersheda maintained that the recording concerned a professional conversation and was therefore authorized by Monegasque law.
In July 2017, Monaco’s investigative magistrate at the time received a comprehensive IT report of the contents of Tetiana Bersheda’s phone. It contained over 8,900 text messages that revealed communication between Rybolovlev’s lawyer and Monaco’s high-level officials prior to Bouvier’s arrest.
In September 2017, a case against Rybolovlev was opened in Monaco for corruption and influence peddling.
In June 2018, the US investigation against Bouvier was closed without any charges made against the art dealer.
In February 2018, a federal prosecutor in Geneva opened a criminal investigation into Yves Bouvier on charges of fraud against Dmitry Rybolovlev.
However, in December 2023, the Geneva Prosecutor's Office closed the criminal investigation into Bouvier, stating that it had found "no evidence to raise sufficient suspicions against the defendants." All nine lawsuits filed by Rybolovlev in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Monaco, and Geneva against Bouvier were dismissed. In June 2018, the US investigation against Bouvier was closed without any charges made against the art dealer.
In July 2019, Rybolovlev and Bersheda appealed to the European Court of Human Rights claiming that the investigating judge in Monaco had exceeded his remit with regard to the invasion of privacy case.
In November 2023, the case against Rybolovlev and Monaco’s former public prosecutor, Jean-Pierre Dreno, who were accused by Tania Rappo of collusion in her complaint of breach of privacy, was dismissed.
In December 2023, Rybolovlev and Bouvier reached an agreement and set aside all their remaining legal disputes in all jurisdictions. The settlement was described by Bouvier's lawyers as a "complete victory."
Role of Sotheby’s
Rybolovlev also accused auction house
Sotheby's
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
of being complicit in Bouvier's alleged defrauding scheme.
According to Rybolovlev, Sotheby’s was involved in his purchase through Bouvier of 15 masterpieces, including “Salvator Mundi” of Leonardo da Vinci, which was originally bought by Bouvier from Sotheby’s for $83 million and sold to Rybolovlev a day later for $127,5 million. The Russian subsequently accused Sotheby's of having knowingly and willingly assisted in the fraud.
In June 2019, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered that email exchanges between Bouvier and Sotheby's vice chairman of worldwide private sales Samuel Valette which were previously confidential due to Sotheby's motion to seal certain documents must be submitted to the court.
According to the files, the process involved a request from Yves Bouvier for Valette to send an evaluation approved by Sotheby's which was to be transferred to Rybolovlev, indicating that Bouvier and Valette apparently coordinated on the value of the appraisals which Bouvier then sent to his client.
Bouvier subsequently purchased paintings - via Sotheby's - for amounts lower than those indicated in the valuation, before reselling them to Rybolovlev, mostly at prices higher than those indicated in the evaluation of the auction house. The transaction history that Sotheby's has provided for certain works omits sales to Bouvier, although Valette has personally been involved in many of these sales.
Both Bouvier and Sotheby's have denied any wrongdoing.
In November 2019, the New York Court of Appeals decided that Sotheby's had to provide documents requested in the context of proceedings initiated by foreign jurisdictions in which the auction house is involved, including for proceedings between Yves Bouvier and Dmitry Rybolovlev in Switzerland.
In January 2024, the jury at a New York Federal Court found for Sotheby's on all counts that Rybolovlev had alleged. A lawyer representing Sotheby's stated that the verdict "reaffirmed what we knew since the beginning, which was that Sotheby's played no role in any fraud or attempted fraud against Rybolovlev or anyone else." Bouvier stated that his "name is now cleared", adding that the Geneva Prosecutor's decision to dismiss the case marked the "end of a nine-year nightmare. Courts all around the world have now unanimously concluded that I was innocent."
Other cases
Bouvier was connected to a legal case involving a Canadian collector named Lorette Shefner in 2008. Shefner's family claims that she was the victim of a complex fraud, whereby she was persuaded to sell a
Soutine painting at a price far below market value, only to see the work later sold to the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
in
Washington DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
for a much higher price. According to New York court papers from 2013, Bouvier was accused of having conspired "to disguise the true ownership" of pieces of art to defraud the Shefner estate.
In a separate incident, Bouvier's purported connections to Galerie Jacques de la Béraudière and his ownership of an off-shore entity called Diva Fine Arts led him to be connected to the case of
Wolfgang Beltracchi
Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fischer on 4 February 1951) is a German former Art forgery, art forger and visual artist who has admitted to forging hundreds of paintings in an international art scam netting millions of euros. Beltracchi, tog ...
, a German
forger convicted in 2011 of defrauding a number of collectors, including
Daniel Filipacchi
Daniel Filipacchi (born 12 January 1928) is the Chairman Emeritus of Hachette Filipacchi Médias and a French collector of surrealist art.
Career
Filipacchi wrote and worked as a photographer for '' Paris Match'' from its founding in 1949 b ...
, of millions of dollars. According to a media report, Bouvier came first in contact with Beltracchi via his wife Helene, to whom he was introduced through art expert Werner Spies, who had authenticated one of Beltracchi's paintings before they were sold on. Bouvier has denied any connection to Beltracchi and has dismissed media coverage as uninformed speculation.
In 30 March 2012, the Beijing office of one of Bouvier's subsidiary firms, art transporter IFAS, was raided by local tax authorities, leading to the arrest of several employees, including the general manager Nils Jennrich. Through his lawyer, Bouvier contested having affiliation with the company. With the efforts of German diplomats, Jennrich was released and returned to Germany in 2013, and the case was closed as well as the charges dropped.
In September 2015, Bouvier was indicted on charges of concealed theft of two
Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
s belonging to Catherine Hutin-Blay, step-daughter of Picasso, who claims that they were stolen from her collection. Bouvier countered this by showing that Hutin-Blay had received 8 million euros through a
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
er trust linked to their sale, leading to the case being dismissed in Liechtenstein in December 2015. However, in 2024, a French court reopened the case following new evidence.
It suggested Bouvier had used questionable tactics to sell additional Picasso artworks without Hutin-Blay's consent. The court's decision highlighted suspicions about Bouvier's methods, which allegedly included misleading valuations and complex intermediary arrangements to obscure the true ownership and inflate the prices of artworks.
Bouvier and an associate, Marc Francelet, were also allegedly involved in helping former
president of Angola
The president of Angola () is both head of state and head of government in Angola. According to the constitution adopted in 2010, the post of prime minister is abolished; executive authority belongs to the president who has also a degree of l ...
,
Jose Eduardo dos Santos, funnel Angolan state funds out of the country.
According to Angolan press reports and French court documents, Bouvier and Francelet used two
shell companies
A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...
, Brave Ventures Pte Ltd and Francelet Consulting, to make the state funds disappear.
Panama Papers
In the 2015
leak
A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a Water tank, tank or a Ship, ship's Hull (watercraft), hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can e ...
, it was revealed that Bouvier had at least five offshore companies linked to him. A lawyer for Bouvier stated these are used for well-established legal purposes.
Alleged tax evasion
In 2017, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) initiated an investigation into Bouvier for tax evasion to the tune of CHF 165 million ($145 million) stemming mostly from income received through art deals with Rybolovlev and proceeds from companies in Hong Kong and the
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...
that are allegedly tied to him. In June 2019, the FTA was granted access to documents seized during office raids, following Bouvier's attempt of blocking them.
On 3 August 2020, Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court ruled that some of the documents in question must be inspected, which subsequently led the authorities to accuse Bouvier of owing taxes on CHF 330 million ($360 million).
At the core of the case is Bouvier's assertion that he has been a Singapore resident for the past decade and thus does not owe Swiss taxes on profits made since then.
However, the authorities dispute this, arguing that Bouvier continues to be domiciled and conducting business in Switzerland.
In 2024 he was ordered by a Swiss federal court to pay 730 million swiss francs ($821 million) in unpaid taxes to the canton of Geneva for the years 2008 to 2015. The ruling found that Bouvier, despite claiming fiscal residence in Singapore, where he moved to 2009, spent most of the time in Geneva during the period in question.
Scherbakov case
In 2018, another Russian businessman, who according to artnet news emerged to be Vladimir Shcherbakov filed a lawsuit against Yves Bouvier and his associate Thierry Hobaica, who according to media reports Bouvier had engaged to deal with Scherbakov. The Russian accused them of overcharging him in the purchase of 40 artworks, which were allegedly acquired through offshore firms owned by Bouvier.
Personal life
Bouvier is a non-practicing
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
, and is passionate about skiing, sailing boats “of all kinds”, as well as competition horses.
He settled in Singapore in 2008 where he currently resides, which is being contested by Swiss tax authorities saying he is still a Geneva resident.
According to the French magazine ''
Le Point
''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines.
''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...
'', Yves Bouvier had allegedly been the patron of
Zahia Dehar, a model and designer who had previously worked as a call girl.
According to report, Bouvier allegedly organized dinners for his clients, with Dehar as the "guest star," while she was allegedly underage.
She became known to the general public after being "offered" at the age of 17 as a birthday present to French footballer Frank Ribéry. The relationship between Yves Bouvier and Zahia Dehar caught the attention of the French press, but has been denied by both Bouvier and Dehar. A former escort colleague of Zahia, known as Sarah, claims that she and Zahia were part of an international pimping ring headed by Yves Bouvier.
See also
* ''
The Lost Leonardo'', 2021 film in which Bouvier is interviewed
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouvier, Yves
Living people
Swiss art dealers
Businesspeople from Geneva
1963 births