The Florida Supreme Court approved a one-year suspension for a New Jersey-based attorney and real estate developer this week who pled guilty to smuggling a $1.6 million painting out of his house in 2013 to avoid an asset sale.
John M. Mavroudis was already suspended for one year in New Jersey last July for the scheme. He pled guilty to the Florida ethics case as a reciprocal discipline and consented to the second suspension on May 15.
Atty $1.6M Painting Lawsuit : Smuggling the $1.6M Painting
Mavroudis admitted in the plea that he gave the painting, “Effet de soleil a Saint Honorat” by Francis Picabia, to Sotheby’s to have auctioned off while facing a $2.5 million judgment against him in New Jersey state court. When confronted about the auction, Mavroudis told the New Jersey state court that he had not read the list of items he was not supposed to remove from his house, but he later admitted that was a lie.
The painting, which Mavroudis bought in 1980 for $80,000, sold at auction for $1.6 million, which was deposited with the Bergen County Court clerk’s office.
Admitting to Lies and Misconduct
Mavroudis also admitted to lying to the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics, claiming he planned to remove the painting from his house only temporarily to have photos made of it for a reproduction. Additionally, he admitted lying to adversaries in the $2.5 million civil case that he had no artwork worth more than $5,000 in his house.
