Art Futures Group’s earns a 1.0-star rating from 0 reviews and 7 complaints, showing that the majority of art investors are dissatisfied with their investments.
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art futures investment scammer no idea about property
Investors warning
Art Futures Group (AFG) (http://sg2015.invest-fair.com/speakers / https://artfuturesgroup.com/southside-magazine/ ) is selling property as investment in Indonesia:
Read before you invest:
https://www.iol.co.za/personal-finance/investors-are-losing-millions-on-overpriced-chinese-art-19827836
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AFGfraud/members/
https://www.complaintsboard.com/art-futures-group-b128448
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-06/investors-are-losing-millions-by-buying-and-leasing-chinese-art
https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/art-futures-group-overpriced-chinese-contemporary-art-buy-lease-scam-c843856.html?page=2
https://artfuturesgroup.com/southside-magazine/
They are claiming that a foreign jurisdiction can give you protection from Indonesian law. That is completely ridiculous.
You can google and read all the stories of foreigners that have lost their money trying to subvert the Indonesian constitution. It states that Indonesian land is for Indonesian citizens.
Comment: This page appears to have been written to praise its subject rather than to describe the subject neutrally. Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view. If this draft is resubmitted without being reworked, it may be nominated for deletion. Robert McClenon (talk) 13:33, 15 September 2019 (UTC)
this is a statement pertaining to an article previously published and subsequently retracted by bloomberg news
Correction and Apology
On 7 March 2018 I authored an article published on www.bloomberg.com which contained various claims about Art Futures Group.
Bloomberg has retracted the article because my reporting failed to meet its editorial standards for fairness and accuracy.
The article wrongly suggested that Art Futures Group induced investors into overpaying for art. I acknowledge that I d I'd not have evidence to support that claim. I also acknowledge that other aspects of the article were inaccurate.
I unequivocally withdraw the allegations made against Art Futures Group and unreservedly apologize to Art Futures Group for any harm the article may have caused.
Frederik Balfour
Whilst many of Art Futures Group clients, commenting on this website, hoped that the Bloomberg article referred to by Freddie Balfour would help expose this scam and somehow get our money back or have Hong Kong police or other relevant government agencies take action, not ONE has and somehow it has all turned against us and we ended up more victimised than before...NONE of us have had any luck trying to sell our art as at the time of writing...NONE of the rental contracts 'already in place' at time of purchase, were renewed with the alleged corporate client supposedly displaying our art pieces in their offices (any business who rented from AFG/Maceys and others raise your hand if you did enter into this rental deal).
Incentives offered to us the 'naïve art' clients were extensive with PROMISED returns of 20%/annum, rental contracts at 6%/annum, five years free storage/insurance (supposedly including the 2 years of the rental period) and the end to end service of buying and then selling the art. NOT ONE OF THESE INCENTIVES/GUARANTEES/PROMISES have fructified. NOT ONE SINGLE EFFING ONE.
How can this not be understood to be lies, and how can a reputable media outlet like Bloomberg's not get this investigation right?!
Deliberate evasive action was taken by AFG to stop Bloomberg's using a professional camera, insisting that only phone pics were allowed (when Balfour tried to arrange to take photos at the storage facility for the purpose of publishing with the article) - explain that one. Fear of the actual artwork being exposed for what we all believe to be the truth - works wholly or partly completed by the artists' students at rapid rate, low price and then hard sold talked to us, the naïve art clients (one of the first questions asked of us by the 'specialist' art brokers, 'have you bought art before') at EXHORBITANT prices.
If this is not an art scam, then it would behoove the CEO's of these businesses to simply provide evidence of the art transferring to the client and back again at the end of the lease (requests for such documentation has NOT been provided). The actual artists themselves knowing of these articles damning their works would surely want to protect their reputations but publishing their own statements - not ONE has to date. How about the so called corporate clients (touted by AFG as lawyers, bankers and financiers) posting to the web that they have indeed rented these pieces. Again not ONE.
How bout leading auction houses who won't take the art without reasons given except 'this art does not suit our clientele' when auction results from them show that these artists have indeed been sold through them. It's interesting to note that auctions outside of China/Hong Kong have not realised the same high prices attained locally - perhaps seeding the auction rooms with cross bidding is easier to do in the same geographical area then flying overseas.
Police reports, HKCC reports, legal briefs and general content published all over the internet still has not stopped this rental art scam. Dozens and dozens of us from here and Facebook are still being contacted by Macey's with promises of selling any art you buy from them, within 2 years, if you're willing to buy more of their art.
We all thought something would come of the investigation and reporting by Balfour, but now our art is so exposed out there, everyone is steering very clear of any of it..just the mention of AFG to auction houses results in a deathly silence.
At the time of writing this, I have again contacted a leading auction house, who did show interest in one of my pieces, for the online auction only, but with an estimated value of 1/30th of what I paid for it (i.e. bought for hk$288, 000.00, auction estimate hk$10-20, 000.00) - explain that one, oh, wait a minute, Douglas Lucas did explain it by stating 'auction houses think they are a force unto themselves'...oh dear oh dear oh dear, words from the specialised art expert. Just where did all of you get your art education, huh?
To summarise, sociopaths are abundant in fly by night businesses world wide...Jeremy Kasler, original CEO of Art Futures Group dumped the business on Jonathan Macey, an ex employee of AFG, to hightail out of Hong Kong, rumoured to be heading to Australia with his new venture CityYield, another rental back type of (property) business with guaranteed return...yeah right..wonder if he shipped his Maserati or Porsche or whatever high end car he bought with our money along with his contented wife and child.
A fact I can tell you, someone is going to be rotting in hell, and it won't be me..
GIVE BACK OUR MONEY
art investment advisory - inflated pricing and fabricated rental market
AFG uses relentless cold calling techniques (not sure how they obtained my number) and promises of 6% yield on artwork purchased through a corporate rental programme. The rental is guaranteed for 2 years after which they claim to be unable to rent the artwork. In reality, none of their artworks are rented out and the price initially paid is inflated to cover a hefty profit for them plus the 6% rental yield for 2 years.
Their initial sales pitch relies heavily on auction results for their artists and they advise that you can sell the work in 3-5 years and make ~ 20% pa return. I bought a painting from them in 2012 and 7 years later the reality is that no auction houses are interested in their art and AFG advises that you buy more pieces from them as it is easier to sell a collection of work - don't fall for it!
Please be wary.
have you seen the main complaint here about AFG, as they have started a Facebook action group - post or find them on FB (private group)
Is Art Futures Group Legit?
Art Futures Group earns a trustworthiness rating of 75%
Reliable, but always remember to protect your data.
We found clear and detailed contact information for Art Futures Group. The company provides a physical address, 6 phone numbers, and email, as well as 3 social media accounts. This demonstrates a commitment to customer service and transparency, which is a positive sign for building trust with customers.
Artfuturesgroup.com has a valid SSL certificate, which indicates that the website is secure and trustworthy. Look for the padlock icon in the browser and the "https" prefix in the URL to confirm that the website is using SSL.
Artfuturesgroup.com appears to have online shopping features, it's important to know that the platform supports an extensive range of payment methods, making it convenient and easy to complete your transaction. The payment procedure on the website is also relatively simple and straightforward, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience for buyers.
However ComplaintsBoard has detected that:
- Art Futures Group's complaint resolution process is inadequate and ineffective. The support team lacks customer service skills, training, and resources, resulting in only 0% of 0 complaints being resolved.
- The website belonging to Art Futures Group has a low number of visitors, which could be a red flag for users. However, it's important to conduct additional research to fully evaluate the website's legitimacy and trustworthiness.
- This website appears to offer a link shortening service. Scammers may also use shortened links to make malicious or fraudulent websites appear more legitimate or to hide the true destination of a link. Therefore, it's important to exercise caution when clicking on shortened links, particularly if they come from an untrusted or unfamiliar source.
services
I am from HK. I was contacted by AFG and invited for a visit to their office in Central. A large office space with 20 staff. But I was assigned two brokers, one new and one experienced. But what I asked them about my target artists of their artwork pieces, e.g Liu Yeh, Wang GuangYi, Tseng Fengzhi, or even some world famous artists, Kusama, Nara, etc, all those artists were not heard by them at all. They will introduce you so called well known Chinese artists, with good bidding records in artsy, artnet etc. Those pieces are very high, high, higher than I can souce from sothebys or christies with the same media, around the size they provided but with well history of bidding records in world known auction houses. As i am a frequent bidder, so i know more about it than those staff. Really a terrible experience i ever got.
These same people are now running a company called CaskX in the USA. Buyer beware!
scam art investment
Was called up by a salesman in KL sometime in 2015...the scam exactly like many mentioned.. guaranteed 2years rental n paid to us upfront after our payment. Overall we invested into 4 paintings. After 2 years, in 2017...same excuses as seen like the rest, couldn't find rentee n buyers n blah blah blah.. contacted that Douglas on what's the shipping cost to return the painting to us which cost a bomb. Their modus operandi sound so much like the famous wine investment scam in Singapore and Malaysia
please join the FB - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AFGfraud/ and email your statement to traineeinvestor@gmail.com who is going to approach a lawyer for upfront cost to proceed with claims against AFG.
overpriced chinese contemporary art buy / lease scam
After completing an online survey about purchasing art from Hong Kong, with leases in place, I purchased 5 paintings between May 2012 and October 2013, all offered with corporate leases in place, returning 6% per annum.
AFG's salesman, James O'Dell, pushed hard over the phone, not allowing me to talk, and railroading me into buying. I never thought to check current values of the artists works (big mistake) nor to question the ongoing lease of the art, which was my way of seeing a sustainable income for the future.
AFG tout themselves as 'experts' in art broking, and will handle exit strategies when the time is right.
I was offered 5 years storage and free insurance on each piece, photos, sales contract, provenance and where the art would be stored.
A few months before the 1st painting's 2 year lease contract was about to end I started to ask what was going to happen with a new lease. Emails went unanswered for months with weak excuses why. Statements were made that the works might not re-lease. To cut it short, NONE of my paintings, nor the 3 paintings my sister also purchased, re-leased and are currently sitting in storage in Hong Kong.
As AFG claim they are in the business of corporate art leasing, it stunned us that suddenly AFG couldn't lease our paintings again!
The managing director Jon Reade, after several emails, offered to re-lease the works at the same amount, which we declined, and nothing further was done.
After numerous emails, I demanded to see records of the paintings movement between artist, storage (for inspection), then transport to the lease client, and transport back into storage as suspicion that the paintings never were leased in the first place.
I also requested up to date prices for similar works by same artists, to check if the promised 20% gain per annum was realised on AFG's current price list. Of course there was no gain after 4 years.
I was sent a list of expected gain on investments, including wine, property etc, showing art appreciating 99% in 5 years! I also checked auction results of all the artists, and all had sold similar pieces for far less than I had paid! One piece (all artists have series of works with the same theme, so pieces are identical in size, medium, subject matter) I paid Aus$42, 500 and the auction value was $24-$30, 000! For artists in my portfolio that had sold similar works at auctions were far less than I had purchased the pieces.
When I emailed AFG about the huge difference, I was given the 'spiel' about how auctions work, blah blah, all negative.
I contacted several well known auction houses in Hong Kong and China, including Sotheby's and Bonhams and others with a view to sell the works at auction. EVERY auction house I contacted declined to take the works most stating there was NO MARKET for these pieces.
I tried to claim the difference in value for these paintings to the current auction value with no compensation from AFG.
I have asked repeatedly for information on how to best sell them, continually being put off to wait till 'early 2017', which again was met with not a good time to sell, auction houses don't take art under 10 years old, blah blah.
I visited Hong Kong in 2013 to see the paintings and was very surprised that 4 of the paintings were so easily 'removed' from the corporate lessee to AFG's offices.
Basically I feel cheated by fast talking salesmen, who have been rude, abrasive and evasive in answering straight forward questions about our investment in their recommended mid career artists "about to go Blue Chip", and the guarantees AFG gave about their appreciation, which has NOT happened.
In conclusion, buyers beware, do your homework about the real value of these works, and if AFG are recommending an artists and their series of works, check auction results and buy the piece for far less directly yourself!
We would like a full refund of all monies paid, including the guaranteed 20% /annum appreciation on these works.
Apologies to any of you who have not heard back from me...this website is a bit 'clumsy' for finding threads, and as the email I initially used for this thread is no longer active, I'm not receiving messages. (I have tried to get a new email added here without success)... if you wish to email please use artfportfolio85@gmail.com as there is new things happening, after several years of campaigning.
As these posts are also read by former staff of AFG (now taken over by Macey and Sons - Jonathan Macey is also a founding member of AFG!), updates are only on the FB group and you will need to provide some form of i.d., showing you have purchased art from these businesses, or have reason to be a supporter.
Basically funds are needed to set up a website to continue the campaign. Many of you have stated here you are interested in contributing, so now is the time to put your money where your mouth is!
Email me! and contribute to https://www.gofundme.com/shutting-down-a-worldwide-art-scam
Cheers Lucette
Trouble posting all the pics under one submission - heres Luo Brothers signatures (3 brothers)
Luo Brothers signatures (3 brothers) - compare the two signatures!
Hi all I am still very active in attempting to get answers from Macey and Sons (who bought out AFG) with just statements of 'understand your frustration'. Oh really? Jonathan Macey understands my frustration of investing over HK$1 million on unsellable art, not being able to find ANY contact details on the internet for any of the artists I hold, and now on closer inspection of certificates of authenticity supplied by AFG, have discovered that some of the signatures do not match the painting, and one in particular, from Luo Brothers (3 of them) ABSOLUTELY looks digital. Attached is my certificate, and the other is the backside of one of their pieces that was sold at auction by Sotheby's (Luo Brothers only sign 'on verso'), you tell me if im mistaken! check your certificates! not that it will do you any good. cant do class action for 'business to business' (as this type of sale was classified by HKCC). Also pics of my Shen Jingdong, which not only do signatures not match (according to Shen, if it is indeed Shen I'm in contact with by email, the ONLY artist who has a website), saying one is pen and one is paint, ahem, should still roughly look the same!, but the piece is called Bookworm on the certificate, yet on Shen's website its called Reading.
If you wish to join the Facebook group, here is the link - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AFGfraud/ - you will need to supply documentation which you can paste into the messenger window, after I reply to your request. FB messenger notifications is really dodgy, as once you open just one of the unread messages, it will remove any notification of further unread messages, meaning a lot of you who have asked to join are not seeing these replies from me. CHECK your messenger!
Here is the retracted article originally written for Bloomberg - its been removed all over the net, so this is the ONLY place to read it on a public domain - Investors Are Losing Millions by Buying and Leasing Chinese Art
[protected]:00:00.3 GMT
By Frederik Balfour
(Bloomberg) -- In her first foray into the world of art
investing, Lucette d’Angelique got an offer that seemed too good
to turn down.
Buy a work of contemporary Chinese art, which was
appreciating at as much as 20 percent a year, then lease it to a
corporation for a guaranteed 6 percent annual return.
The company making the pitch, Art Futures Group, said a
client had already been signed up to lease the painting, but she
would need to act quickly as several other potential buyers were
also looking at the work.
So d’Angelique plunked down HK$198, 000 ($25, 223) for an oil
painting by Hou Qing featuring a young Chinese woman in a red
dress, clutching a bottle of Hennessy cognac. "I was thinking,
wow, what a great investment."
A few months later, while attending an open house at the
AFG gallery, she was surprised to see her painting was on
display to promote the artist and not hanging in someone’s
office. Still, the monthly dividend checks kept arriving, so she
brushed aside her concerns, eventually spending another HK$1.1
million on four more paintings.
After two years, the leasing contract on her painting “Red
Hennessy” expired. AFG told her it wouldn’t be renewed. The
story was the same for her other purchases once the initial two-
year rental period expired. She was told the leasing market had
gone quiet and it was too soon to try and sell her paintings.
Frustrated by AFG’s failure to respond to her further
queries, she tried to place her works with several Hong Kong
auction houses.
"Not one of them wanted anything to do with these
paintings, " she said. The best she could get was an offer from
Sotheby’s to sell a Shen Jingdong painting online with a reserve
price of HK$10, 000 ($1, 274), about 3.5 percent of the HK$288, 000
she had paid for it. Sotheby’s declined to comment on Shen
Jindong’s artworks.
Buyers’ Forum
d’Angelique isn’t the only one suffering buyer’s remorse.
More than 50 people have signed up to a private chat group on
Facebook for AFG clients that she created. Interviews with more
than a dozen other AFG clients tell a similar story. The average
price they paid per painting was about $25, 000.
AFG’s website says it has served more than 1, 000 clients.
In an e-mail exchange, AFG initially said the company’s founder,
Jeremy Kasler, would give an interview, but then said he would
respond to written questions instead. On receiving the
questions, the company said he was too busy to respond. In
response to two subsequent emails, the company said there was no
one else available to address the questions.
AFG isn’t the only company in Hong Kong offering to sell and
then lease art. Elliot James & Tyndal also sells Chinese
contemporary art with promises of an 8 percent return for two
years, said Divine Fung, who bought one of their paintings after
getting cold called by a sales representative. The company did
not respond to emailed questions.
Another firm, Collins & Kent International Fine Art, sold
editions of works by Damien Hirst and Salvador Dali, offering
7.5 percent rental income, until its Hong Kong office went bust
in 2017.
Mrs. Wong, a compliance lawyer who asked to use her
husband’s surname only, bought a Hirst print from Collins & Kent
a few months before the company closed. Now she says she’s stuck
with a painting she never liked and can’t sell.
"I was the perfect target, someone with enough money, very
little time and no knowledge of art, ” she said. “I am totally
embarrassed by my own stupidity and lack of due diligence."
A Melbourne-based company using the same name said it helps
some clients lease their purchases of "blue chip" European works
for a one-year period with yields between 3.5 percent and 7
percent as part of a broader business offering art storage and
logistics. It allowed the Hong Kong entity use of its name and
access to its artworks, the company said in an email.
The art-purchase-and-lease offer is particularly appealing
for people looking for a high-return alternative investment, but
find the world of galleries, art fairs and auction houses
intimidating.
"That’s where the model works, it preys on people by
speaking to them in a vocabulary they understand and offering to
be a trusted guide through this very opaque market, so buyers
probably let their guard down, " says Edie Hu, art advisory
specialist at Citi Private Bank in Hong Kong. "There is a
mystique to the art market and all of a sudden you have someone
who brings it down to your level. Nobody from galleries or
auction houses talks about return on investment."
Macey & Sons, which sells mostly European works of art and
antiques, was founded by former AFG employee Jonathan Macey, who
declined to discuss his former employer. He said his firm does
lease some pieces back from buyers it uses for publicity to
attract new clients, paying the owner up to 5 percent.
"We have a leasing program, not on all pieces, on certain
pieces we can show off around the world, ” Macey said. "You have
to reinvent the way you gain markets."
Free Whisky
His firm rents space at art fairs and held a free whisky
tasting in November for delegates of the Hong Kong AVCJ Venture
Capital Summit. In February Macey displayed a client’s HK$1
million 12 carat tiara at the Longines Masters equestrian event
in Hong Kong. His clients can even earn frequent flyer points
when they purchase his art.
AFG has set up a booth each year at the Asia Contemporary
Art Show in Hong Kong alongside other galleries, and has held
lucky draws to win a painting, according to d’Angelique, who
said she was contacted by phone “in minutes” after filling out
an online survey in 2012 to enter the contest.
Iris, who works in finance and asked that only her first
name be used, started getting calls from a salesman soon after
filling out an AFG questionnaire in exchange for a free face-
painting for her daughter in the upscale Hong Kong enclave of
Discovery Bay.
"He was very pushy and good at talking, like a car
salesman, " she said after buying a surrealistic painting of a
multicolored zebra by mainland artist Liu Liguo for HK$348, 000
in 2016. "If he had sold me a mutual fund or some other
investment I would have been a lot more careful. Without the
rental offer I probably would not have bought it."
She said she doesn’t believe her painting was ever rented
out and AFG simply overcharged her and paid the lease premium
from the sale proceeds. The leasing contract was drawn up
between her and AFG, not a corporate renter. She said AFG
wouldn’t tell her who would be leasing her painting.
Collectors Reveal Secrets of How to Make a Fortune in Art
While the claims of third-party leases may have been
unsubstantiated, the company hasn’t done anything legally
improper, said Wong, the lawyer.
One reason the strategy flourishes is the reluctance of
many former clients to speak out. Seven people who were
interviewed about their purchases work in banking and finance
and requested anonymity to protect their professional
reputations. Some of those who bought the artworks didn’t want
to talk about the experience.
That behavior is typical of people who fear they fell for a
scam because they feel ashamed, said a former Blackrock employee
who spent HK$625, 000 on art from AFG. Their shame is a natural
reaction and companies rely on it to prevent information coming
out about their operations, the person said.
But some who feel victimized don’t stay silent. H.L. Tan
decided to speak out after an AFG broker tried to sell him a
second painting five years after his first. "I was really
angry, " said Tay, a former stock broker who wrote off his
HK$248, 000 purchase years ago. "This is why I am coming forward,
as a warning sign to everyone not to get involved."
To contact the reporter on this story:
Frederik Balfour in Hong Kong at fbalfour@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net
Adam Majendie
hi all, if you have applied to the FB group afgscam, check your messenger for a reply..i always reply, but fb does not keep a counter on unread messages (once you click on messenger it removes the count)..if this is confusing, just check your messenger messages for requests by me for yr invoice or other documentation to i.d. you..police action has been started and many members have sent their statement to hk police - the contact there is steveyam@police.gov.hk - the more who sent in their statement the better the chance of action...there is no class action (so a hk lawyer advised me) and the cost to prepare a 'legal opinion' is around hk$25k...i started a gofundme to raise funds to get to hk and start researching there to try and sell the art, get govt. action and attempt to #givebackourmoney - i can tell you all that its not looking good as the info i have assessed from all sources appears that the art is not wholly completed by the signatured artist but by their students (to give cheap art to afg/maceys & others) who in turn on sell to everyone at ridiculous prices as afg etc, then in turn seed the auctions to bid up these same artists to then show the auction results, which in turn allows afg/maceys to push up their prices...i have it on GOOD authority that these high auction results are 'one offs', and the major auction houses are aware of the whole scam system, hence why NONE of us have been successful in getting our art sold - DO NOT let maceys et al con you into buying more art to enable them to sell yr existing art - its just good money after bad - to stop them in their tracks just say along the lines of 'the deal sounds interesting, but i will need to have the details emailed to me for my lawyer to look over'...you will receive the following in reply 'SILENCE'
please add the following hashtag to all yours posts - get behind the movement #GIVEBACKOURMONEY
Hi all, if you haven't asked to join the Facebook group against AFG and other rental art scams, then please request through Facebook - you will need to provide copy of your invoice showing art purchase or other info proving your i.d. to protect other members...in the meantime I recently spoke to Jonathan Macey, from Maceys and Sons who have bought out AFG. Jonathan states he 'bought out AFG in good faith' yet still not ONE of us has had an offer to sell our art, refund our money or give anyone an idea of when we can recoup our hard earned money...to this end Jonathan gave his email asking for anyone to tell their story to him (I believe it's because Douglas Lucas from AFG, now working for Maceys stated that 'all the complaints on this site are from just one disgruntled person, aka Moi!)...it goes to show that i have managed to keep spies out of the FB group, coz AFG/MACEYS would all realise there are dozens and dozens of us with the EXACT same story of fraudulent sales techniques, lies, exaggeration and basic over the top incentives (high yielding rental returns which are a ONE OFF but never advised to anyone) to invest our money with them...write him your story with a request to refund your money - GO FOR IT - jonathan@maceyandsons.com
I have just heard from one of the FB group members, that they have decided to relinquish their hkd$168k painting in exchange for the unpaid storage fee (after the '5' year period free storage is up) of hkd5, 400. I thought AFG were ruthless and dishonest, but this is pure bottom of the barrel shysters who would not even offer a better deal than 3% of the original cost of the art. On the other side of this saga, this poor client has given up on ever seeing her investment return the huge 15-20%/annum gains promised by AFG's sales reps (hardly 'specialised' art brokers) preferring to be done with the whole fiasco and basically write off her money. Here in Australia we say 'SHAME SHAME SHAME' on you
Hi everyone, if not done so already PLEASE ask to join the PRIVATE FB group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AFGfraud/members/ to catch up with what we are all doing - also this article came out yesterday
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-06/investors-are-losing-millions-by-buying-and-leasing-chinese-art?fbclid=IwAR3VIcL7Sp5BHdqCjhNTHXtQjIykZ00KKP_YMus3r2atroyp0VdA97EGZKs
cheers
Sometimes working with social media is a nightmare! cant get why afgscam wont show up, but noted that FB wouldnt accept 'scam' for a valid moniker - have now registered this email - AFGfraud@groups.facebook.com, use this from now on...I am a very dedicated social justice seeker and will NOT back down from the huge workload ahead of us..could those resident in Hong Kong please advise as 'feet on the ground' are needed to do some legwork - i am in Australia, with a huge workload at the moment, so all assistance is required to put pressure on the artworld who have turned their backs on us!
Hi everyone scammed by Art Futures Group, I have started a Facebook page to at least have us all under one umbrella, where we will receive notifications, and everyone who joins the group can post links etc. to move us all forward to not only closing this business down, but somehow getting some satisfaction monetarily and emotionally...please please join the group asap as it will carry more weight and get some attention from authorities! FACEBOOK group is private, called AFGSCAM - once all of you have joined, we will petition the Hong Kong consumer council for either assistance or direction to where we can take this further!
Hello all of you who have been scammed. This is to inform you I have tracked down these same people to a company in the USA called Caskx now selling whiskey for investment.
Buyer beware!
Hi everyone, I am M Chan and am also a victim who started to buy art pieces from AFG since 2015. I just received an email from Macey and Sons Auctioneers and Valuers Limited. It claimed to have taken over AFG, and asked me to give it instruction by 31 Oct 2019 on whether to engage it for further storage after the "storage end date".
Does any one have any idea on the recent development of this issue? Thanks a lot!
The suggestion that all these complaints are by one person is ridiculous – just another attempt by AFG to try and conceal the common experience of their victims – art sold at prices that are totally divorced from reality, art sold on the basis on non-existent leases, rock-solid assurances that AFG will arrange for the art to be sent to auction at the end of the rent-free storage period which are never honoured etc etc etc.
Everyone who feels they have been defrauded by AFG (or anyone else) should report to the Hong Kong Police's Anti-Deception Coordination Centre either by phone or by using the on-line reporting facility: https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/04_crime_matters/adcc/contact.html
Hello everyone, I'm Thomas and also a victim in AFG scam. Bought 4 pieces in 2016. Has anyone file to the police yet? I wish to take part in any action this group may have. I have sent request to join FB "Afgscam" private group, and pending for approval.
All e-mail addresses on this website is shown [protected], so I have no idea how else to get in contact with the group.
So apparently AFG thinks the all the complaints on this group have been made by one person! How arrogant ! I am an individual client of AfG, my AFG customer number is AFG-C0350 and I am a real person who has been ripped off! I'm moving my works out of their scam storage to another facility this week - hooray! But I bet I never see my money back from the original investment! Anyone else who bought from them yes, you should be VERY VERY concerned! Kiss you $$ good-bye!
Hi JanF, Did you succeed in moving your art piece(s) to another storage facility? Thanks
We also bought one piece of Chinese art just over two years ago, and another early this year...and guess what, the rent on the first one stopped this month after two years. Now I am worried.
Some good coverage of the extent of the problem reported in Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-06/investors-are-losing-millions-by-buying-and-leasing-chinese-art
It would have been helpful if they report had queried the supposed leases to corporate clients which nobody every gets renewed unless they buy more overpriced junk - to repeat what I said earlier, if the leases are non-existent then the whole thing can be exposed as a complete fraud and the people selling the art charged under the Crimes Ordinance.
I have written an email for everyone to send to HKCC focusing on the non delivery of AFG art leasing service...even though initial response has been 'it reads like this is part of the investment in art, which we don't intervene'...so we will email again with the stronger focus on non delivery of service - I again reiterate, join the FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/AFGfraud/members/ to keep up to date with the 60 members (so far)
AFG scammer and salesman jack brown is selling property investment in Indonesia 'Invest Islands' . com
Funnily enough, also on Thursday, a publicist for a Jeremy Kasler wrote to offer an interview with "the investment expert who has helped over 5000 clients secure more than $600 million in alternative investments in property, art and wine". He even owns a Ferrari (and he's not even from the Gold Coast).
No, Kasler is British, and back in March 2000 left Australia after none other than the Australian Securities & Investments Commission closed down the unlicensed timeshare agency, Tourism Advisory Group, he was running. According to ASIC documents, Kasler was later an investor in an alleged scam investment company known as the Australian Wine Index, which was deregistered in 2010.
Seems like literally everybody gets a second – or third – chance, whether they deserve it or not.
https://www.afr.com/brand/rear-window/royal-commission-villain-andrew-smith-prospers-beyond-st-george-20180419-h0z08d
I have purchased several pieces from AFG over the past 1+ years and did some due diligence before starting with them. A gallery owner told me they were overcharging by about 20% or more, and she felt that most of the artists on their list were not worth collecting, but I bought a few by one recommended artist and a couple others I personally like. I also asked about the chances of renewing the 2 year rental contract, and was told by the sales person I dealt with at the time (Dan Couture) that they didn't usually renew, and it sounded like they didn't necessarily even go to real corporate renters. Nevertheless, I thought that with the extra services (insurance, valuation, storage), "rental income" and some gifted books & prints, that it was an OK deal. I was also told by my friend that art auction results can be very misleading, so I haven't given much credit to the auction results AFG showed me for all of the artists I purchased. I've grown tired of their aggressive sales tactics, and probably won't buy any more from them. Now that I know that the founder has a bad reputation and that that they have been over-promising customers and causing consumer complaints, I'm a little worried about the security of the art I bought from them...
Breach of trust
Money was Paid .Artwork not delivered. Breach of terms and conditions. Failure to deliver as promised in sales representations.
Rental payments stop. Failure to provide service and exit as promised. Office abruptly closed, poor after crisis handling and management.
These same people are now running a company called CaskX in the USA. Buyer beware!
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Art Futures Group emailsinfo@artfuturesgroup.com100%Confidence score: 100%Support
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Art Futures Group address5th Floor, 8 Wyndham St., Central, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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