Class Action Lawsuit No. 5 Filed Against At Sea Art Dealer and Others

Or the Park West Gallery Lawsuit Collection

On July 29, 2009, nationwide class action lawsuit No. 5 was filed against Park West Gallery and its affiliates (PWG Florida, Fine Art Sales, Vista Fine Art, and Park West at Sea). Also named personally for his active involvement with the alleged deceptive and fraudulent schemes and practices is Park West Gallery's CEO Albert Scaglione. Also being sued this time around is Carnival Corporation, Carnival plc, and Carnival Cruise Line.

It won't be long before the "Park West Gallery Lawsuit Collection" will rival the Park West Gallery art collection. Perhaps Al Scaglione and Morris Shapiro should print a few thousand copies of these lawsuits, hand sign them, and start selling them on the cruise ships as "unique variations", embellished of course with dibs and dabs of misrepresentation, lies, and deceit - and self-appraised by Al and Morry, too. What a deal!

Class action lawsuit No. 5 filed on behalf of Plaintiffs Donald and Joyce Hatter of Lincroft, New Jersey, and others similarly situated, comes hot on the on the heels of the July 22, 2009 class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Plaintiffs Bruce and Patricia Alleman of Waukegan, Illinois, as well as other plaintiffs who find themselves in the same position. The 55+ page lawsuit is provided here on Fine Art Registry® in its entirety along with supporting exhibits.

Class action lawsuit No. 5 was filed by lawyers E. Powell Miller and Marc L. Newman of The Miller Law Firm, P.C., and Steven A. Schwartz of Chimicles & Tikellis, LLP. Also of counsel are Denise Davis Schwartzman and Kimberly A. Sanders of the same firm.

The latest lawsuit alleges that Park West Gallery and its affiliates under the control and direction of CEO Albert Scaglione, "voluntarily and knowingly joined and conspired" with Carnival Corporation (Carnival Cruise Line and related entities) "to feature the Park West art auctions on its cruises." All of them acting in a "scheme as alleged" which "violates the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act ('RICO'), 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq., and the state common and statutory laws entitling Plaintiffs and the Class to damages."

The Plaintiffs, Mr. and Mrs. Hatter, "purchased artwork in 1999 and 2001at Park West shipboard auctions while on board the Carnival cruise ships Triumph and Paradise."

The Hatters "purchased the artwork because it was represented by the auctioneer to be a 'good investment' that would appraise for 'many times' the hammer price (last bid price) immediately upon disembarking from the ship." Like so many other victims, the Hatters also paid for the infamous Albert Scaglione signed appraisals for the artwork they purchased "which arrived in the mail" and are alleged to be "phony." [Note: A clear and troubling conflict of interest presents when the owner of the artwork who is actively selling the artwork, also acts in the capacity of an appraiser of the artwork - a disgraceful and appalling practice. The fact that the buyer is also required to pay for such an appraisal, if indeed it can even qualify as such, is well beyond the pale.]

The Hatters also allege in their Complaint, that "the artwork Park West sells is not what it represents to its customers," and that "Park West knew but did not disclose to Plaintiffs and the Class that, to the extent the artwork is 'original,' it is one of a series so large that it ultimately becomes depressed in value, is one of a series of multiple series, was run after the artist's death, was done by another artist ostensibly with the permission of the featured artist or, worse still, was simply a poster." [Note: There is an abundance of information that Park West Gallery OMITS and purposely fails to disclose to its buyers of its artwork and Fine Art Registry is of opinion that the cruise lines are well aware of these omissions yet turn a blind eye. With rare exceptions, an "original" work of art is always executed by the artist whose hand is represented to have created or produced the work of original art. An "original" work of art by the hand of the artist cannot be and should never be confused with embellished works of art performed by others and especially on - graphics or multiples - representing the bulk of what Park West Gallery sells aboard cruise ships. The embellished art objects sold by Park West (also referred to by Park West as "Unique Variations") are enhancements or other augmentation which is applied to the substrate (print or graphic, including giclees on paper or even canvas) by paid employees of Park West Gallery and not by the artist who actually created the "original" work of art from which the graphic, print or multiple was produced.] Accordingly, it is correctly alleged that "the artwork purchased by Plaintiffs and the Class is not a 'good investment' because it will not appreciate in value."

It's no secret that Park West Gallery's success (and the cruise lines too) is fundamentally reliant on its unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent sales techniques. For example, as alleged by the Hatters, Park West Gallery "purposefully pitches its fraudulent and deceptive scheme to the naïve art purchaser at shipboard auctions, selling low value, worthless or fake artwork, while misrepresenting to Plaintiffs and the Class that the artwork is valuable, a 'good investment' and that the artwork will 'appraise immediately after purchase for many times the sale price.'" This is the same narrative Fine Art Registry has heard dozens and dozens of times from many passengers who have cruised and purchased Park West Gallery art objects at these pseudo auctions. All the stories from victims are "uniform misrepresentations...made by Park West" exactly as alleged by the Hatters in their complaint.

Since the start of our investigation into cruise ship art auctions in April 2007, Fine Art Registry has been contacted by hundreds of Park West Gallery buyers who purchased aboard cruise ships that told us that they placed their faith and trust in the brand name of the cruise line they sailed on and therefore trusted the representations, promises and guarantees made by Park West Gallery (thorough its agents/auctioneers), all of them assuming (to their detriment) that they were dealing with a reputable organization. The Hatters allege in the lawsuit that Park West Gallery auctioneers "encourage cruisers to purchase at the auctions (and the previews and the 'private sales') by emphasizing that the auction is taking place on board a famous, well respected cruise line, Carnival, by stating: 'Do you think Carnival would allow us to have a shop here if we were fraudulent? If we were not reputable?'" For further confirmation of how Park West Gallery uses the cruise line brand name to legitimize and cover its deceptive and fraudulent trade practices, read the Fine Art Registry case study of
Dr. Venkatraman Srinivasan and his wife, Jayanthi.

As long as we are addressing "faith" and "trust" in the cruise lines, it is interesting to note that when Fine Art Registry published its first article concerning at sea art auctions in May 2007, we focused our investigative articles on all shipboard art auctions companies to the extent they existed. At the time, we found the two major art auction companies competing and operating aboard cruise ships were Princess Global Fine Arts (operated by Princess Cruise Lines) and Park West Gallery. Two years and many lawsuits later, we have received more than 300 formal complaints from Park West Gallery buyers and continue to receive complaints on an almost daily basis. In stark contrast, with the exception of two minor complaints, we have not had a single customer from Princess Cruise Lines or Princess Global Fine Arts lodge a legitimate complaint with Fine Art Registry concerning dissatisfaction with the artwork Princess Global Fine Arts sells.

It just goes to show you that where there is smoke, there is usually fire.

If you believe you have a claim or you believe you are the victim of fraud or deceptive trade practices concerning at sea or on land art auction purchases, please see FAR® ON YOUR SIDE for more information and assistance.

Complaint
5th Class Action Lawsuit against
Park West Gallery

Learn more about the 4th Class Action Lawsuit against Park West Gallery,
Michigan State Class Action, Washington State Class Action and
other class action lawsuits against Park West Gallery.

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