Swiss art dealer's Hong Kong assets unfrozen amid court battle with Russian tycoon who accused him of swindling

A Swiss art dealer accused of pocketing more than US$1 billion in secret profits from the sale of artworks to a Russian billionaire has had his assets in Hong Kong unfrozen, the High Court heard this morning.

High Court recorder Jason Pow Wing-nin SC today ordered the injunction against art dealer Yves Bouvier and his Hong Kong company Mei Invest Limited to be lifted.

Lawyers for Bouvier confirmed that a consent summons had been signed between Bouvier and Accent Delight International Limited and Xitrans Finance Limited, the two companies linked to Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Rybolovlev, who owns French top-tier soccer club AS Monaco and built an art collection worth around US$1.49 billion, launched a lawsuit against Bouvier and his company in Singapore in March this year.

He also via his two companies applied for a world-wide injunction to restrict Bouvier from removing up to US$500 million in assets. Rybolovlev obtained an injunction from a Singapore court in March and one from Hong Kong’s High Court in July.

But Singapore’s appeal court discharged Bouvier’s injunction last month as they ruled “there was no real risk of [Bouvier] dissipating his assets”.