Woman cons her mother out of $82 million artwork by claiming it was “cursed”
A 48-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of swindling her elderly mother out of a painting worth $82 million, by making her believe it was “cursed”.
Sabine Coll Boghici allegedly tricked her 82-year-old mother Genevieve into handing over Sol Poente (1949) by Tarsila do Amaral.
The artwork belonged to Genevieve’s late husband, who was an art collector, as the artwork had previously been exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Sabine’s art con is just one part of a haul of cash, art and jewellery worth almost $200 million allegedly defrauded by the Brazilian woman.
The scam to obtain Genevieve’s artwork began in 2020, when a psychic approached the elderly woman with prophecies of her daughter’s imminent death.
The victim was then taken to several more psychics, who police say used personal information provided by her daughter to scam her distraught mother into transferring money to pay for “spiritual treatment”.
Sabine and an accomplice posing as a psychic “began to take the artwork from the (mother's) house, claiming that the painting was cursed with something negative, with negative energy that needed to be prayed over,” said Rio de Janeiro police officer Gilberto Ribeiro.
After almost a year of being mistreated by Sabine and her accomplices, Genevieve decided to go to the police.
Police say 16 paintings were stolen, including works by renowned Brazilian artists like Cicero Dias, Rubens Gerchman and Alberto Guignard.
Police say seven people are suspected of involvement in the years-long crime, facing charges of embezzlement, robbery, extortion, false imprisonment and criminal association.
Image credits: Rio de Janeiro Civil Police / AFP