Park West Gallery Litigation Update #78:

Justice Served! It's the End of the Line for Royal Carribean Cruise Line and Park West Gallery

And a Brand New Lawsuit is Filed Against Park West Gallery and its Principals

As we have reported in recent articles, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ("RCL") and Park West Gallery are rapidly running out of slick legal maneuvers to try to weasel their way out of paying substantial restitution to victims Sharon Day, Julian Howard, Mike and Maria Vallillo, Heidi Rice, and Martha Szostak. RCL and its former sweetheart art vendor, Park West Gallery, have been busy for the last three years filing a mountain of paper with the Court and specifically motions for summary disposition, also known as motions for summary judgment, asking the court to summarily dismiss all claims in an effort to try to cheat (as if the sale of fraudulent art wasn't enough) victims from having their day in court. Well, after three long years of litigation, justice is finally being meted out to the art peddler Park West Gallery and its co-conspirator RCL. A recent blistering court order by Judge Nanci J. Grant of Oakland County Circuit Court has rightfully put RCL squarely in the soup with its (former) onboard art concessionaire, Park West Gallery and isn't it about time? The victims will finally have their day in court.

Judge Nanci Grant Denies Royal Caribbean's Demand to Escape Jury Trial

The recent Order and Opinion, dated 26 September, 2011, by Judge Nanci Grant (posted below in its entirety) is a serious blow to RCL and its long-time (and former) business partner Park West Gallery for a variety of reasons that we have reported on in the past. RCL is now finally going to face a Michigan jury with its former partner, Park West Gallery.

Picture it! On one side of the courtroom, there they will sit, Albert Scaglione for Park West Gallery (and if the trial with Fine Art Registry® was any indication, it is likely Scaglione will play company rep musical chairs with his minions, Shapiro and Molina) and next to him, a designated principal from RCL (maybe Richard Fain and/or Adam Goldstein) all chummy (okay, maybe not so chummy), the two company reps and their respective lawyers trying to figure out a way to somehow defend the indefensible--the many claims of deceptive, unfair, and fraudulent trade practices while the jury scrutinizes their every move and facial expression. Yes, it won't be a pretty picture for the RCL brand and it is almost a certainty that RCL will point its not so clean, blame-game-finger straight at Park West Gallery, perhaps claiming that they [RCL] had no knowledge and no control over Park West Gallery, which we know is not the case. And in response, Park West Gallery and its principals will in turn do as they have always done. They will blame the victims and Fine Art Registry for their woes, refusing to take responsibility for their actions. Whatever the case, the two entities RCL and Park West Gallery, will be pitted against each other. As Fine Art Registry has reported in the past, RCL does not have clean hands and try as they may to lay all the blame at the door of Park West Gallery for the fraud that was committed on these victims, they won't be able to escape the fact that RCL shared in a lucrative financial partnership with Park West Gallery. RCL banked a tremendous share of the sale proceeds that Park West Gallery made from Sharon Day and Julian Howard--all with RCL's active participation, assistance and support. In fact, the entire sales purchase was deposited directly into RCL's bank account in Texas and then later divvied up. Moreover, RCL has known for years what Park West Gallery has been doing onboard RCL ships--yet RCL continued to happily condone Park West Gallery's deceptive and unfair trade practices, laughing all the way to the bank, and did nothing to stop the fraud, until it was too late. It is the inescapable truth that RCL took absolutely no action to stop Park West Gallery until years later, when Fine Art Registry won a unanimous jury verdict against Park West Gallery in April 2010, and after this writer received a death threat phone call that sourced from RCL corporate offices in Florida.

So, we have Albert Scaglione and an RCL executive and their lawyers on one side of the court room. Now, on the other side of the courtroom with their lawyers will be Sharon Day, Julian Howard, Mike and Maria Vallillo, Martha and John Szostak, Heidi Rice, and the writer of this article, Theresa Franks, as company representative for Fine Art Registry--because as everyone will recall, Park West Gallery for the umpteenth time sued Fine Art Registry, presumably for helping victims, and so we will appear as a third-party defendant. Park West Gallery is SLAPP happy (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation)! It is Park West Gallery's MO to file lawsuits to try to intimidate and silence its critics--just ask Sharon Day, Julian Howard, Mike and Maria Vallillo, and Martha Szostak. Park West Gallery sued all of these people for doing nothing more than speaking the truth about how they were ripped off. All of these victims were forced to go to make a claim with their respective homeowner's insurance carriers in order to be provided a defense (a lawyer) to defend against Park West Gallery's bogus claims. What kind of a company (much less an art gallery) sues its own customers for speaking out against the fraud that was committed against them?

Oh the drama that will play out in that courtroom! The trial is currently scheduled for the month of November 2011. However, we are almost certain that the case will be rescheduled to a later date, given Judge Grant's recent rulings and for the reasons we set forth below. Whatever the case, Fine Art Registry will be in attendance at the trial and we will report it all--blow by blow on the Fine Art Registry web site, in video format just as we did at the trial with Park West Gallery in 2010.

We can't imagine that there is any love left between RCL and Park West Gallery, especially after Judge Grant's recent ruling. Any affinity between the two companies had to have ended with the cancellation of Park West Gallery's concessionaire contract with RCL and now with Judge Grant's recent rulings it's almost impossible to believe that the two entities are amicable. Park West Gallery, once a top revenue generator for RCL is now nothing but a potentially multi-million dollar albatross around the neck of RCL's brand and there is little doubt that Park West Gallery's deceptive and unfair trade practices have tarnished RCL's reputation. Granted, as far as RCL is concerned, several hundred thousand or maybe a few million dollars awarded collectively to these victims at trial may be nothing in the scheme of things. If RCL had to pay out on a multi-million dollar judgment, it would be a drop in the proverbial bucket for a multi-billion dollar corporation. In our opinion, it is not necessarily the payout for these particular victims that RCL is worried about. It is the verdict itself. It is RCL shareholders that they have to worry about and the black eye on its brand that will result. RCL is required to report its ongoing litigation to its shareholders. It is the potential tsunami of victims that will follow after Day, Howard, Vallillo, Szostak and Rice, that RCL should be worried about and wringing its hands over, which is why RCL (and Park West Gallery too), are posturing and pulling out all the legal stops they can concoct and it is why they have been fighting tooth and nail to get rid of this case and the victims without paying them one red cent. For if RCL and Park West Gallery are hit with a jury verdict for multi-millions in damages at trial (which is entirely likely given our success against Park West Gallery in the past and in light of the overwhelming evidence against RCL and Park West, and the experts we have on hand to testify), both companies know it is not a good omen for things to come.

It is a virtual certainty that if RCL is hit with a large jury verdict at trial, RCL will come down on Park West Gallery like a ton of bricks. We have often been asked the question: Why hasn't RCL sued Park West Gallery? It certainly seems logical at least from an indemnification standpoint. However, as we have reported from the beginning, if RCL sues Park West Gallery or makes an overture toward settlement of claims by Park West Gallery victims, it would be viewed as an admission of wrong doing and there isn't a tourniquet in the world that would stop the refund jugular from the financial bleed that is sure to result. However, once the victims receive a sizeable jury verdict in this case, it is essentially guaranteed that Park West Gallery will face lawsuits from RCL and perhaps other cruise lines as well. It is only a matter of time as the pendulum continues to swing in favor of the victims.

RCL and Park West Gallery have some huge challenges as it faces Sharon Day and Julian Howard's case in particular, but we won't give away our strategy in this article. We'll save it for the trial. Make no mistake, RCL will have to work hard and fast to try to play catch up and good luck with that.

We believe that in light of Judge Grant's ruling, RCL will try to pull a rabbit out of their hat and attempt to separate the victims' cases in an effort to distance itself from Park West Gallery and to delay things even more. We don't believe this is going to work. It is meant to be that RCL face the jury right along with its co-conspirator and former business partner, Park West Gallery. If RCL didn't want to be in this position, they should have done something years ago to rid their cruise ships of Park West Gallery or at the very least attempt to reform its art program. For RCL to roll the dice and to continue down the road to trial with Sharon Day and Julian Howard, is in our opinion risky and foolish--especially given the fact that RCL has done zero discovery in the case and we are now three years into this litigation. It will take an eternity (if ever) for RCL's lawyers to get up to speed on this very complex case and even then, they wouldn't have a clue. As already set forth above, we don't believe that RCL and Park West Gallery are aligned in their respective defenses. It is likely that they'll be too busy slitting each other's throats to help each other much and let's face it they don't have a "Fine Art Registry" to assist them with all the evidence and the witnesses, much less the fine points and distinctions in this case as it relates to the victims and the artwork they purchased. To say that RCL and its counsel are behind the eight ball in this case is an understatement. RCL has been resting on its laurels--arrogantly believing they would be dismissed from this litigation. Now they are in quite a pickle--we expect more so then they even realize.

RCL is certainly risking its brand and its reputation, if it continues to push forward to trial, but no matter--we are ready to take them on and we have been preparing for this for years. As we have stated so many times, RCL should have done the right thing (as Fine Art Registry suggested and implored RCL to do repeatedly) and settled with Sharon Day and Julian Howard long, long ago, or at the very least RCL should have demanded that Park West Gallery belly on up to the settlement bar and make things right. RCL thought Park West Gallery was going to win at trial against Fine Art Registry in 2010, and we are sure that is what Scaglione promised RCL. But it didn't quite work out that way, did it? Doing the right thing at this point, would mean that RCL and Park West Gallery would be on the hook for potentially millions and millions of dollars in claims for the sale of forged and faked Dali works of art sold on RCL ships for more than a decade--and that's a lot of dough folks, especially in these tough economic times.

Judge Nanci Grant Denies Park West Gallery's Request to Escape Jury Trial of Victims Vallillo and Szostak

It seems things are now finally turning in favor of the Park West Gallery victims. Perhaps one day soon, all of the victims who have suffered at the hands of Park West Gallery and the various cruise line companies will be made whole.

Like RCL, Park West Gallery filed numerous motions for summary disposition to try to escape the valid claims of Mike and Maria Vallillo and Martha Szostak. Justice has been served and on the same day she issued an Opinion and Order as to RCL, Judge Nanci J. Grant denied Park West Gallery's request to trash the claims of Vallillo and Szostak. We have reported extensively on these victims. As the result of Judge Grant's Opinion and Order, Park West Gallery and its CEO, Albert Scaglione, are now forced to face these victims at trial. The Judge's ruling is posted below in its entirety:

A Sea of Park West Gallery Victims

Besides those victims referenced above, there are many, many other victims who have also filed suit against Park West Gallery in Oakland County, Michigan, and these too patiently await their day in court. Like Day, Howard, Vallillo, Szostak, and Rice, these are all people who have sued Park West Gallery for fraudulent, unfair and deceptive trade practices. These victims include:

Hershel Cohen
Richard English
Pamela Maddern
Leroy Greg
Wolfgang Rosenfelder
Edwin Huang
Alan Levenson
Anthony Castellano
Barbara H. Sorensen
Sheldon Sherman
Brian Falk
Douglas Ulrich
Caroline Haskin
Mattie King
Tom Ungar
Peter Janssen
Jack Blevins

Brand New Lawsuit Filed Against Park West Gallery

On September 28, 2011, a brand new lawsuit was filed by attorney Donald Payton, with the law firm of Kaufman, Payton & Chapa, on behalf of a slew of Park West Gallery victims. The lawsuit that was filed names as Defendants: Park West Gallery, its CEO Albert Scaglione, Morris Shapiro (the gallery's lead salesman), Albert Molina (a principal of Park West Gallery who operates the Florida framing and distribution division of Park West Gallery, known as PWG Florida, Inc.), and Plymouth Auctioneering, Services, Ltd. (an off-shore "sham" company that Scaglione set up to employ his salesman). The new lawsuit is titled, Brian Beck, et al. v. Park West Galleries, Inc., et. al. The names of the Park West Gallery victims who have sued the beleaguered gallery are:

Brian Beck
Audrey Mahoney
Guy Hanson
Karen Hanson
Raymond Favichia
Margaret Favichia
Judith Schlebecker
John Schlebecker
David Oppenheim
Felice Oppenheim
Bernadett Steiner
Patty Brown

Perhaps someday soon justice will prevail and all of the victims referenced herein, along with many others who are still coming forward with claims of fraud will finally be recompensed for the wrong that has been done. In any event, God willing, Fine Art Registry will stand steadfast in its fight against art crime and art fraud.

In preparation for the upcoming trial against Park West Gallery and RCL, we will be publishing more of the 2010 trial testimony which resulted in a landmark unanimous jury verdict in favor of Fine Art Registry. Next up, will be the compelling sworn trial testimony of an ex-Park West Gallery employee. You won't want to miss it.

— by Theresa Franks  |  October 12, 2011

Print   |  

back to top