Monaco resident Maurice Alain Amon has won the latest round in a court battle with his estranged wife over a $25 million art collection.
Tracey Hejailan-Amon had claimed that her husband, a Swiss businessman, had removed the art collection, believed to include works by Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, from their Fifth Avenue New York apartment shortly before filing for divorce in order to deprive her of a share in its value.
She also said that the flat in the US was the couple’s home, a claim disputed by Mr Amon who said their principle residence had been in Monaco. To back up his argument, he revealed the contents of his wife’s walk-in wardrobe and a vast collection of shoes in their Monte Carlo property.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed sided with Mr Amon in finding that the art collection was her husband’s property. Earlier in the ongoing legal battle, Mrs Hejailan-Amon had argued that the divorce case should be heard in New York, rather than in Monaco, which does not recognise shared marital property.
She could also face having to pay back to Mr Amon the $70 million in gifts that he showered on her during their eight years of marriage.
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