Dumas accused of Giacometti auction swindle

A former French foreign minister and the country's leading auctioneer appeared in a courtroom in Paris yesterday accused of defrauding the estate of one of the 20th century's greatest sculptors, Alberto Giacometti.

Roland Dumas, 82, a close friend of the late President François Mitterrand, and Jacques Tajan, 63, whose auction house sells more than 50,000 works of art a year, are suspected of illegally retaining about €1.5m (£1.03m) from a sale of the Swiss sculptor's creations in Paris in 1994.

As the confidant, lawyer and - following her death in 1993 - executor of the will of Annette Giacometti, the sculptor's widow, Mr Dumas instructed his friend, Mr Tajan, to organise the sale of 14 sculptures and four paintings to help pay death duties owing on the estate.

Prosecutors and the Giacometti heirs allege that Mr Tajan illegally kept back more than €1.22m of the auction's total proceeds of €6.5m, shoring up his bank balance and hiving off a substantial sum in interest.

They are also seeking an explanation for €370,000 paid into Mr Dumas's bank account by Mr Tajan soon after the sale, despite there being "no trace whatsoever" of any formal legal assistance to the auctioneer by the retired politician.

Mr Dumas was acquitted on appeal last year in connection with France's huge Elf corruption case, the country biggest political and corporate sleaze scandal since the second world war.

He had been sentenced to six months in jail, but the appeals court decided he did not realise that the lavish gifts with which his mistress, Christine Deviers-Joncour, showered him - including a £1,100 pair of Italian shoes, antique statues worth £26,400 and £30,000 of lunches - had actually been paid for by the oil giant. He was ill for much of that trial and lawyers said they feared for him if he had to return to court.

There are further disputes surrounding the Giacometti legacy.

In her will, the sculptor's widow appointed Mr Dumas chief administrator of a proposed foundation dedicated to her husband, who died in Switzerland in 1966.

Family feuds over Giacometti's legacy led to delays, and the foundation, which intends to lend sculptures to museums around the world, was finally formed only last year.

In his capacity as administrator, Mr Dumas asked Mr Tajan to carry out an inventory of the widow's extensive collection of her husband's work.

The sculptor's statues fetch millions of pounds. His Grande Femme Debout II (Tall Woman Standing) sold for $14m (£7.25m) at a Christie's auction in New York in 2000, and the entire legacy is valued at more than €150m.

The auctioneer charged €2m for carrying out the inventory - a sum both the prosecution and the Giacometti family consider wildly excessive. Mr Tajan is charged with "abuse of confidence" and "forgery by a person in public authority"; Mr Dumas with complicity.

Both men reject the charges. Mr Dumas's lawyers argue that the alleged €370,000 backhander was, in fact, legitimate payment for help in a separate legal case, while Mr Tajan has said it was normal practice for auctioneers to "look after" the proceeds of sales on behalf of clients, and formally denies committing "any act contrary to usual custom, honour and probity".

Giacometti, who was also a talented painter, was a leading surrealist sculptor who shot to worldwide prominence in the 1960s.