The Park West Gallery Gang Smacked with Another Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit:
NO. 6 AND COUNTING
by
Fine Art Registry®
On July 24, 2009, Plaintiff Sean Mullen brought a lawsuit in Michigan Federal Court in what amounts to the sixth nationwide class action lawsuit filed against Park West Gallery 
and all its various affiliates including, PWG Florida, Fine Art Sales, Vista Fine Art, and Park West at Sea. Rounding out the named Park West Gallery defendants in the Mullen lawsuit is Park West Gallery CEO Albert Scaglione who is alleged by Mullen to be "the prime architect of the fraud and conspiracy." Other named defendants include Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Carnival Cruise Lines. The Mullen lawsuit is provided here in its entirety. (Mullen v. Park West Galleries, Inc., et al - PDF)
Sean Mullen resides in Washington, D.C. He purchased artwork from Park West at shipboard auctions on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2003 and a Holland America cruise in 2005. Mullen alleges that "because of the illegal actions of Defendants, the art auctions...were anything but fun, and Plaintiff and the Class...lost millions of dollars as a result of purchasing works of 'art' on the Cruise Lines."
Park West Gallery started its operation on cruise ships over a decade ago and as Sean Mullen alleges "for at least the past ten (10) years and continuing to the present, Park West planned, operated and continues to operate a fraudulent scheme to sell artwork at shipboard auctions on the Cruise Lines, representing at the auctions that the artwork is a 'good investment' and will, immediately upon disembarking, appraise for 'many times' the purchase price."
There is abundant evidence that Albert Scaglione and Park West Gallery recruit auctioneers by and through a shadowy offshore company known as Plymouth Auctioneering which operates in the Turks & Caicos (if this isn't a red flag - it certainly should be). All of the auctioneers are recruited under a third-party independent contracting agreement with Park West Gallery and are indeed employed by Park West Gallery as "independent contractors." In fact, it has been reported to Fine Art Registry® that the auctioneers are carefully "schooled" in what they are to say if any of them are questioned or pressed about what entity employs them (another red flag).
Sean Mullen's encounter with Park West Gallery is exactly the same as reported to Fine Art Registry by a sea of other victims for well over two years now. The modus operandi is always the same. A perfect cookie-cutter like sales pitch with smooth accents by unlicensed foreign nationals, filled with weasel words, delivered with a forked tongue, always imprecise with the intention to mislead the targeted audience. Adding to the deliberate imprecision in the "sales pitch" is the intentional failure on the part of Park West Gallery to offer to prospective bidders/buyers, a valid and legitimate art auction catalog which sets forth the artist, the title of the piece, the lot number, a detailed description and/or scholarship of the art object and a high-low value estimate of the art object to be offered at auction. It is simply wrong that the art objects offered by Park West at auction are not assigned Lot numbers in a printed format for prospective buyers.
It's quite an oeuvre the gallery and its owner are amassing. To recap, the "Park West Gallery Lawsuit Collection" now includes the following pending nationwide Federal class action lawsuits:
FILED IN THE STATE OF MICHIGAN
Alleman et al v. Park West Galleries, Inc. et al - filed July 22, 2009
Mullen v. Park West Galleries, Inc., et al - filed July 24, 2009
Hatter v. Park West Galleries, Inc. et al - filed July 29, 2009
Bohm v. Park West Gallery, Inc. et al - filed April 13, 2009
(Bohm Amended Complaint filed July 24, 2009)
FILED IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Blackman v. Park West Galleries, Inc et al - filed September 2, 2008
FILED IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA
Bouverat v. Park West Gallery, Inc. - filed June 20, 2008
Additionally, a lawsuit has been filed in Michigan State court by the following individuals: Sharon Day and Julian Howard, Deborah Austin, Cheryl Crist, Heidi Rice, Martha Szostak, Mike and Maria Vallillo, and Al and Vivan Best.
This makes a total of seven pending lawsuits, not including other claims that have been filed against the self-proclaimed "world's largest privately owned art gallery" for trademark infringement and Lanham Act violations. And it is a certainty that it won't be long before more lawsuits follow these.
And a side note. Interestingly, another class action lawsuit was brought in the State of California on September 23, 2008, styled as Marisa Bautista v. Park West Gallery, Inc. et al. Fine Art Registry will analyze this case and report on its status in the near future. Currently the case is pending appeal, though not for the reasons you may think. You're not going to believe what we've uncovered. So stay tuned for the facts on this case! Facts that we are sure Park West Gallery would just as soon remain in obscurity and hidden within the confines of the court system. Thank goodness for public records! As long as there is still free speech in this country, Fine Art Registry will report on what we find. Park West may have thought that this one escaped notice. Not a chance! We'll be following this appeal closely and as usual, we'll call it like we see it.
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.
— by Fine Art Registry®
| August 19, 2009
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