Leading art lawyer accused of hiding fees

Ralph E Lerner, one of the top New York art lawyers, has been accused of charging unauthorised fees and hiding them from fellow members of the board of artist Cy Twombly.

New York S Borisov

In the latest development, following the filing of a lawsuit earlier in 2013, Mr Lerner has been accused of fraudulently taking US$750,000 in fees from the foundation of the artist who died in 2011. Lawyers for the Cy Twombly Foundation have just filed papers claiming that Mr Lerner charged unauthorised fees and hid them from other board members by a circuitous system. This system involved wire transfers that by-passed the Foundation's accountants. 

Mr Lerner's office said, in a statement reported in The New York Times, that all his fees were 'made in accordance with the practices and procedures established by Mr. Twombly when he was alive'.

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