Park West Gallery and the Art of the Con

A Silver Wedding Anniversary Celebration Turns Into the Cruise from Hell

Abe Hershkowitz is a victim of Park West Gallery and he is one of those rare individuals that refuses to sit down and shut up — no matter how much Park West Gallery and its miserable lawyers threatened him. Abe is a colorful character, larger than life, with a great sense of humor and a gracious willingness to help anyone that asks. He was ripped off by Park West Gallery and he wasn’t going to take it. We published Abe’s case study on Fine Art Registry in September and October 2007. Abe stood up for what he believed in and vigorously fought the Park West Gallery beast until Park West cried “Uncle”. Park West Gallery capitulated and agreed to rescind Abe’s contract. He was one of the lucky ones. We could use a lot more like Abe in this world — willing to stand and fight for what is right. What’s more, Abe was not bound by the Park West Gallery gag agreement in the settlement of his claims. He flat out refused to sign the unilateral (completely one-sided) Park West gag agreement that says in essence, if you (our customer) say anything negative about us after we refund you, we will sue you. Abe speaks out to this day, and says exactly what he feels without fear of retaliation by Park West Gallery. He is a mighty advocate and strong support for other victims who find themselves in the same boat (pun intended). And so Abe showed up in Port Huron, Michigan, more than a year ago, in April 2010, to testify on behalf of Fine Art Registry. His testimony is compelling and it was effective… read the entire article at Fine Art Registry entitled, Park West Gallery and the Art of the Con

Park West Gallery, Scaglione and Ira Shore Reunite and Share the Art Auction Rip Off Spotlight

Another Cruise Ship Art Auction Rip Off? Really? So What Else is New?

Fine Art Registry® has been reporting on fraudulent, unfair, and deceptive art auction sales aboard cruise ships for well over four years now and the monkey business continues. You will want to check out this latest article of yet another art auction rip off published in “The Sydney Morning Herald,” an Australian newspaper, as well as an article on the same subject that was published in the Art Market Monitor.

Our readers will recall that in the past we have reported extensively on the long history and the cozy little relationship between Albert Scaglione of Park West Gallery and an individual by the name of Ira Shore (aka Fine Art Management Corporation). More recently, we reported that Ira Shore had taken over the operation of the art peddler known as, British American Auctions. Ira Shore cleverly changed the name from British American Auctions to International Art Galleries LLC., managing to convince two VC [venture capital] firms to invest more than $4.9 million dollars into his “new” operation. Perhaps Ira Shore didn’t think we would notice the name change. But Fine Art Registry was aware from the beginning as we had insiders reporting to us every step of the way.

Read the entire article at Fine Art Registry: Another Cruise Ship Art Auction Rip Off

On August 10, 2011 the Sydney Morning Herald published an article by Tom Kirkpatrick entitled Painting bought at sea proves to be no treasure.

Richard English Testifies Against Park West Gallery

Witness Intimidation, Lies, and the Cold Hard Truth for Park West Gallery and its Dali Inventory

Richard English and his wife, Tracey, are two more financial fatalities in a long and never ending line of Park West Gallery victims. Richard English testified at trial for Fine Art Registry. Though Richard English and other Fine Art Registry® witnesses were harassed and intimidated by Park West Gallery’s lawyers in an attempt to keep them from testifying at trial, the slime ball tactic didn’t work and it hasn’t worked from the beginning when Park West Gallery tried to keep our expert witnesses from testifying at deposition and at trial.

Richard English drove from Maryland to Port Huron, Michigan, in order to tell his appalling story of abuse and rip off by Park West Gallery. At the time, Mr. English was out of a job and desperate as many Americans are today to find work. It didn’t help that he was holding worthless, unauthorized, and forged Park West Gallery works of art that he could not sell. Before he learned he had been scammed by the self-proclaimed world’s largest art peddler on the planet, Richard hoped that he could sell the Park West artwork to help him make it through his tough financial times. After all, Park West Gallery and its fork-tongued salesmen represent that the artwork they sell is “investment” grade artwork; that it can be sold for many times its original purchase price and that Park West Gallery will buy the artwork back–all of which is a bald-faced lie. The bottom line: There is no secondary market for Park West Gallery artwork. And all the conjuring in the world won’t make it so.

Like hundreds of others, Richard English is still waiting to be refunded for the forged and fake artwork he purchased from Park West Gallery years ago. He is currently suing Park West Gallery. And while Richard English and others who are out of work wait for justice to prevail in the court system (which Park West Gallery expertly manipulates to its advantage with their numerous junk-yard dog lawyers around the country), the fat cat, Albert Scaglione, remains firmly ensconced in his lavish empire, resting in the lap of luxury while his lawyers keep the fee meter ramped.

Read the entire article and trial testimony at Fine Art Registry.

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