Billionaire ‘wrecked Warhol painting’ after divorce court told him to give it to ex-wife
A billionaire’s former wife is trying to reopen new York’s ‘ nastiest divorce’ – alleging that she was fobbed off with damaged paintings.
libbie Mugrabi, 41, claims David Mugrabi, 47, deliberately wrecked a £1.4million Andy Warhol and a £4.6million Jean-Michel basquiat he had been ordered to give her under their settlement.
Her lawyers also insist she is unable to maintain her children’s lifestyles on £56,000 a month and needs her maintenance payments to be raised to £71,000 a month.
Miss Mugrabi wants a judge to annul the settlement even though it was only finalised in December after two years of legal fighting.
The case became the talk of new York society and was known in gossip pages as the city’s ‘nastiest divorce’. Miss Mugrabi, who had demanded a £71million package, had said that she was ‘very happy’ with the outcome.
However the couple were soon rowing again and in April a Manhattan court ordered them to exchange artworks and cars. Miss Mugrabi says her ex-husband ‘purposely damaged the art he agreed to provide (her) under the separation agreement’. Some of the damage was caused by water.
in a counterclaim, Mr Mugrabi said she was not honouring her side of the deal.
The pair met when she was 22 and he was an art student and son of Syrian-israeli textile entrepreneur Jose Mugrabi. Worth around £3.5billion, Jose has one of the largest private art collections in the world, including renoirs, Monets, Hirsts and 800 Warhols.
Mr Mugrabi’s lawyers did not respond a request for comment.