Celebrity art dealer jailed over £500k painting scam
He was ‘real-life Thomas Crown’
A CELEBRITY art dealer was jailed yesterday for stealing paintings from his clients.
Described as a ‘real life Thomas Crown’, Jonathan Poole sold the works for £500,000 – much less than their true value.
The 69-year-old worked for and sold art by stars including John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Ronnie Wood. John Illsley, the bassist for Dire Straits, was among his victims, losing £56,000 when Poole secretly flogged off paintings by the jazz legend Miles Davis.
And a £32,000 portrait of Kate Moss by Sebastian Kruger ended up in a Cheltenham pub, where a drunk stabbed it with a steak knife.
Much of the stolen artwork was by Rolling Stones star Wood. There were also portraits of Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger. One was bought by the illusionist Derren Brown.
Poole, who ran a gallery in the Cotswolds, started stealing the works in 1986 to fund an addiction to gambling, Gloucester Crown Court heard.
He had been trusted to buy, sell and exhibit works on behalf of his rich and famous clients.
His motive for continuing the fraud is not known but it is thought he wanted to stash away money to fund a luxury lifestyle. In his police interview he said: ‘I was desperate.’
Most of Poole’s offences were committed after his gallery was badly damaged by the floods that hit Gloucestershire in July 2007, the court was told. His losses were covered by insurance however.
He robbed nine victims of at least £435,015, although police believe the value of the works could be far higher. None of the art involved in the court case belonged to the Lennon estate. Poole, from Poulton, Gloucester, admitted 24 offences of theft and two of fraud. Thirty-two other charges have been left on file.
James Ward, prosecuting, said: ‘Imagine the shock when his clients realised they had invested and trusted an international art dealer who was a professional thief of some ability.’ Comparing him to the criminal in the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair, the prosecutor added: ‘Both Thomas Crown and Jonathan Poole stole the paintings in broad daylight.
‘While Thomas Crown stole as a challenge, because his world had become too stiflingly safe, Jonathan Poole stole either to fund a gambling habit, or to stash away money for later life or to fund a lifestyle he couldn’t afford.’
Mr Ward said Poole was asked to sell nearly a dozen Wood paintings for a female collector, but failed to pass on the cash for eight that were worth more than £20,000. He also pocketed cash from the sales of three works by Auguste Rodin, worth a total of £112,500 and belonging to a German businessman.
Sentencing him to four years in jail, Judge Michael Cullum said: ‘You were in a situation with a high degree of trust. You were, in many different elements of your life, being dishonest.’
A prosecution spokesman said: ‘Jonathan Poole was a reputable art dealer who abused his position of trust in the most discreditable way. All of the pieces of art are extremely valuable and there is no doubt Poole was well aware of this.
‘Through careful analysis of financial transactions spanning several decades, the CPS built a strong case and faced with the evidence against him, Poole pleaded guilty.
‘While some of the stolen artwork may never be recovered, I hope yesterday’s sentence provides some sense of justice to the victims whose trust was breached by Poole.’
‘Stabbed with a steak knife’