Manhattan dealer Ezra Chowaiki of Chowaiki & Co. Fine Art Ltd. on Park Avenue has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraud. “One factor that does loom in this case is the seemingly and largely unregulated nature of the art market,” says U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. “Here, we have something that by its very nature calls for expertise and can easily be the subject of fraud, yet seems to operate without any meaningful constraints. I think that weighs modestly in favor of a higher sentence.”Read more at Bloomberg
