Helly OK to razzle Basel
Billionaire art dealer Helly Nahmad, who is still under federal supervision after serving a short prison stint for running a celebritystudded gambling ring, convinced a judge to let him jet off to Europe for an art show, according to court papers.
Nahmad, 38, is spending the week at the Art Basel show in Switzerland, quite an upgrade from the federal penitentiary he called home for five months last year.
“The Court’s permission extends only to the requested travel to Switzerland for business purposes,” Judge Jesse Furman wrote.
Nahmad, son of art dealer David Nahmad, has already set up a booth at the world’s premier international art show, featuring Picassos priced at $ 16 million and a Rothko for $ 50 million, according to ArtNews.
The admitted gambling addict — whose $ 100 million ring drew such celebs as Leonardo DiCaprio and Alex Rodriguez— relied on illegal gambling Web sites that handled tens of millions of dollars in sports bets since 2012, prosecutors said. Ring partner, Illya Trincher, 53, got five years behind bars.