District Attorney's Office The New York...
4
7/29/2014 DA VANCE: FORMER SECRETARY TO IMELDA MARCOS CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS AT TRIAL INVOLVING DISAPPEARANCE OF MONE… http://manhattanda.org/press-release/da-vance-former-secretary-imelda-marcos-convicted-all-counts-trial-involving-disappear 1/4 The New York County District Attorney's Office Media Center > Press Releases > Monday, November 18, 2013 Press Releases View Site in: Español 繁體中文 Contact Us Directions Case Information Tw itter Facebook Search Submit Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. District Attorney, New York County For Immediate Release November 18, 2013 DA VANCE: FORMER SECRETARY TO IMELDA MARCOS CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS AT TRIAL INVOLVING DISAPPEARANCE OF MONET AND OTHER ARTWORKS Jury Finds Vilma Bautista Guilty of Selling Monet “Water-Lily” Painting for Tens of Millions of Dollars, Failing to Report Sale on Tax Return Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance today announced the trial conviction of VILMA BAUTISTA, 75, for illegally conspiring to possess and sell valuable works of art acquired by former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos during her husband’s presidency, keeping the proceeds for herself, and hiding those proceeds from New York State tax authorities and others. The art included a Claude Monet “Water-Lily” painting, which the defendant sold in September 2010 for $32 million. A jury in New York State Supreme Court found the defendant guilty of all of the counts of the indictment against her: Criminal Tax Fraud in the First Degree, Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. BAUTISTA is expected to be sentenced at a later date. “More than 25 years after these masterwork paintings were looted, it took a jury two-and-a-half hours to come back with a guilty verdict against the woman who conspired to steal them,” said District Attorney Vance. “Vilma Bautista was found guilty of attempting to sell art she had possessed secretly for decades and knew to be stolen, and for selling a looted museum-quality painting for her personal enrichment. I want thank the jury and our prosecutors for their work in this case, which finally solves the mystery of what happened to four masterpieces of Impressionist art.” As proven at trial, BAUTISTA was employed by the Philippine government as a Foreign Service Officer assigned to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York from the early 1970s through approximately 1986. During that period and for years after, BAUTISTA unofficially acted as the New York-based personal secretary of Imelda Marcos, whose husband, Ferdinand Marcos, now deceased, served as President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. During her husband’s presidency, Imelda Marcos used state assets to acquire a vast collection of artwork and other valuables. Much of the art adorned official Philippine government property in the Philippines and Manhattan. Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos fled the Philippines in February 1986 following a popular revolt. In the period of time immediately before and after the fall of the Marcos regime, a significant amount of artwork and other valuables disappeared from Philippine government property, including from the Philippine Consulate townhouse in Manhattan. Since then, the Philippine government has engaged in a public campaign to recover missing and stolen property acquired by the Marcoses. BAUTISTA was found to be aware of and monitoring this campaign, even as she possessed some of the valuable works of art. In or after February 1986, BAUTISTA came into possession of numerous works of art acquired Print Article Text Resize The Office Priorities & Partnerships Community Initiatives Learning & Resource Center Victim & Family Resources Media Center Careers & Training
Transcript of District Attorney's Office The New York...
7/29/2014 DA VANCE: FORMER SECRETARY TO IMELDA MARCOS CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS AT TRIAL INVOLVING DISAPPEARANCE OF MONE…
http://manhattanda.org/press-release/da-vance-former-secretary-imelda-marcos-convicted-all-counts-trial-involving-disappear 1/4
The New York CountyDistrict Attorney's Office
Media Center > Press Releases > Monday, November 18, 2013
Press Releases
View Site in: Español 繁體中文Contact Us Directions Case Information Tw itter Facebook Search Submit
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.District Attorney, New York County
For Immediate Release November 18, 2013
DA VANCE: FORMER SECRETARY TO IMELDA MARCOS
CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS AT TRIAL INVOLVING
DISAPPEARANCE OF MONET AND OTHER ARTWORKS
Jury Finds Vilma Bautista Guilty of Selling Monet “Water-Lily” Painting for Tens of
Millions of Dollars, Failing to Report Sale on Tax Return
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance today announced the trial conviction of VILMA
BAUTISTA, 75, for illegally conspiring to possess and sell valuable works of art acquired by
former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos during her husband’s presidency, keeping
the proceeds for herself, and hiding those proceeds from New York State tax authorities and
others. The art included a Claude Monet “Water-Lily” painting, which the defendant sold in
September 2010 for $32 million. A jury in New York State Supreme Court found the defendant
guilty of all of the counts of the indictment against her: Criminal Tax Fraud in the First Degree,
Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.
BAUTISTA is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
“More than 25 years after these masterwork paintings were looted, it took a jury two-and-a-half
hours to come back with a guilty verdict against the woman who conspired to steal them,” said
District Attorney Vance. “Vilma Bautista was found guilty of attempting to sell art she had
possessed secretly for decades and knew to be stolen, and for selling a looted museum-quality
painting for her personal enrichment. I want thank the jury and our prosecutors for their work in
this case, which finally solves the mystery of what happened to four masterpieces of
Impressionist art.”
As proven at trial, BAUTISTA was employed by the Philippine government as a Foreign Service
Officer assigned to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York from the early
1970s through approximately 1986. During that period and for years after, BAUTISTA unofficially
acted as the New York-based personal secretary of Imelda Marcos, whose husband, Ferdinand
Marcos, now deceased, served as President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. During her
husband’s presidency, Imelda Marcos used state assets to acquire a vast collection of artwork
and other valuables. Much of the art adorned official Philippine government property in the
Philippines and Manhattan. Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos fled the Philippines in February 1986
following a popular revolt.
In the period of time immediately before and after the fall of the Marcos regime, a significant
amount of artwork and other valuables disappeared from Philippine government property,
including from the Philippine Consulate townhouse in Manhattan. Since then, the Philippine
government has engaged in a public campaign to recover missing and stolen property acquired
by the Marcoses. BAUTISTA was found to be aware of and monitoring this campaign, even as
she possessed some of the valuable works of art.
In or after February 1986, BAUTISTA came into possession of numerous works of art acquired
Print Article Text Resize
The Office Priorities & Partnerships Community Initiatives Learning & Resource Center Victim & Family Resources Media Center Careers & Training
7/29/2014 DA VANCE: FORMER SECRETARY TO IMELDA MARCOS CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS AT TRIAL INVOLVING DISAPPEARANCE OF MONE…
http://manhattanda.org/press-release/da-vance-former-secretary-imelda-marcos-convicted-all-counts-trial-involving-disappear 2/4
by the Marcoses during Ferdinand Marcos’s presidency, including the following paintings:
Claude Monet’s “Le Bassin aux Nymphease” (also known as “Japanese Footbridge Over the
Water-Lily Pond at Giverny”), 1899, (the “Water-Lily”)
Claude Monet’s “L’Eglise et La Seine a Vetheuil” (also known as “L’Eglise a Vetheuil”), 1881,
(the “Vetheuil”)
Alfred Sisley’s “Langland Bay,” 1887
Albert Marquet’s “Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said” (also known as “Algerian View”), 1946
7/29/2014 DA VANCE: FORMER SECRETARY TO IMELDA MARCOS CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS AT TRIAL INVOLVING DISAPPEARANCE OF MONE…
http://manhattanda.org/press-release/da-vance-former-secretary-imelda-marcos-convicted-all-counts-trial-involving-disappear 3/4
The New York CountyDistrict Attorney's Office Contact Us Directions Disclaimer Site Map
One Hogan Place
New York, NY 10013
The Office
Meet Cy Vance
Meet the Executive Team
History of the Office
Notable Cases
Bureaus & Units
Special Narcotics
Priorities &
Partnerships
Leadership Initiatives
Legislative Priorities
Partnerships
2012 Annual Report
Community Initiatives
Community Partnerships
Unit
Community Calendar
Community Photo Gallery
Community Off ices
NYPD Precincts
Resources for
Landlords & Tenants
Learning & Resource
Center
Educational Initiatives
Criminal Justice System
Resources
Victim & Family
Resources
Victim Services
Resources by Crime
Media Center
FAQs
Video Gallery
Photo Gallery
Testimony
Speeches
In the New s
Press Releases
Careers &
Training
Career Opportunities
Internship Opportunities
Diversity Initiative
Legal Training
Support Staff Training
Recruitment Events
< Prev Next >
Each of the four paintings disappeared in 1986 around the time the Marcoses fell from power,
and each ended up in BAUTISTA’s possession. Beginning in 2009, BAUTISTA attempted to sell
the paintings covertly, focusing on the most valuable painting, Claude Monet’s “Water-Lily.”
Using a variety of illicit means to achieve its sale, including the use of false documents to
establish BAUTISTA’s purported legal authority to sell the painting and receive the proceeds, the
defendant successfully sold the “Water-Lily” painting in September 2010 to a London gallery for
$32 million.
Several months later, in March and April 2011, BAUTISTA filed New York State tax returns for
2010, in which she failed to disclose the sale of the “Water-Lily” painting, or any income they
received from the sale, thereby depriving New York State of millions of dollars in tax revenue.
Assistant District Attorneys Edward Starishevsky and Garrett Lynch prosecuted this case under
the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy, Principal Deputy Bureau Chief
of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau, Assistant District Attorney Polly Greenberg, Chief of the
Major Economic Crimes Bureau, and Executive Assistant District Attorney David Szuchman,
Chief of the Investigation Division. Assistant District Attorney Duncan Levin, Chief of the Asset
Forfeiture Unit, also worked on the investigation. Investigative Analysts Jack Hoskins, Bonita
Robinson and Kyle Rodrigues assisted with the case, as did Investigators Gregory Dunlavey,
Donato Siciliano, and Jonathan Reid of the District Attorney’s Investigations Bureau, under the
supervision of Chief Investigator Walter Alexander and Deputy Chief Investigator Michael Wigdor.
District Attorney Vance thanked the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for its
contribution to the investigation, and thanked the auction house and fine art storage firm
Christie’s for its valuable assistance.
Defendant Information:
VILMA BAUTISTA, D.O.B. 8/29/1938
New York, N.Y.
Convicted:
Criminal Tax Fraud in the First Degree, a class B felony, 1 count
Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, 1 count
Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony, 1 count
7/29/2014 DA VANCE: FORMER SECRETARY TO IMELDA MARCOS CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS AT TRIAL INVOLVING DISAPPEARANCE OF MONE…
http://manhattanda.org/press-release/da-vance-former-secretary-imelda-marcos-convicted-all-counts-trial-involving-disappear 4/4
Saturday Night Lights
