Art dealer accused of $4m fraud

A New York art dealer has been charged in a US$4m fraud case today.

He is accused of selling works by Picasso, Matisse and others without informing the owner or giving him the proceeds.

The charges in a criminal complaint in Manhattan accuse Robert Scott Cook of selling 16 works of art without the owner/collector’s knowledge.

The artwork included watercolours, drawings, photographs, and other works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, among others.

Lawyers in court papers filed in a civil case against him say Cook, 62, is likely to be living abroad because he travels frequently around the world.

From 2005 to 2011, Cook owned Cook Fine Art.