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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.
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!
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, 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
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 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
please add the following hashtag to all yours posts - get behind the movement #GIVEBACKOURMONEY
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'
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
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!
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.
Luo Brothers signatures (3 brothers) - compare the two signatures!
Trouble posting all the pics under one submission - heres Luo Brothers signatures (3 brothers)
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
Same here, 4 pieces bought between 2014-15. Rental paid for first 2 years then stopped. I am constantly contacting AFG to either get further rentals, exit the pieces or even have them shipped to UK so I can at least have them on the wall! But as with all other comments on here I am not getting responses. Clearly a scam and we should get together to issue a lawsuit
How can we contact all the victims? We should at least contact the reporters and get the news out and get the attention.
I am the victim too. Please contact me and I hope we can come up with any solutions!
Is there a collective lawsuit that we can pursue with Art Futures
Yea... pull our resource together and sue them for fraud and misrepresentation. I'm in if there's a lawsuit launched on them.
Did you ever take this any further?
I am also facing the same issue now. I bought a painting in 2014, and I can't get my painting to be leased since 2016. I have been in contact with Douglas Lucas now since Jon Reade left the company. He also used the same delay tactic of the art piece being young etc etc. This company is a giant fraud- they take some of the money we paid for the art and pay us the first two years of the rental income (12% of the total value). Thankfully I didn't invest a lot of money on this. But I will be getting some reporters in Hong Kong that i know of to start investigate on this issue, and perhaps expose the fraud to the public.
I bought a painting in 2014 and the storage period will be ended in 2019. I am afraid I can't get back my painting after I saw the above posts. Should we contact more AFG victims?
Hi - I am a Hong Kong-based journalist working on a story to expose the questionable sales tactics at Art Futures Group. I am on the AFGSCAM facebook chat---Frederik Balfour, Bloomberg News
the company is a fraud and i have no idea how they are even allowed to conduct business. they have NEVER MOVED the art. i have check movement records. they don't do anything just spin pretty stories of how they are done. the artwork are now decorative pieces value. i e . not even 1/3 of what u paid. in singpore they even double sold or better not give you the piece even though u have ownership and the so called "only piece of certificate"
Dear Enquiries Mascot Parking and Tkn4aFuul, Please could you contact me I have similar experience, now I am left with paintings in wharehouse incurring storage charges, tried to sell to auction houses, there is no market, the price is a fraction of what I paid, no rental after 2 years, I asked to see the movement log of the paintings from wharehouse to corporate rental location, they gave excuses.
Hi all, I got similar situation, may I know how are you guys deal with? As I would like to sold it. Any suggestions to find a buyer? Thanks to contact me: yantiffany123@hotmail.com
i have started private fb group - AFGSCAM but need to invite you - please email me your email!
I have just sent you my email Thank you.
I have written to HK authorities but no help.
gloriacnlew@yahoo.com.hk
I have also had exactly the same experience as you. I have two paintings, which no auction house will touch, whose rental stopped after the initial two year rental agreement. I had the paintings independently valued at around 50% of what I paid. Emails go unanswered, phone calls are not returned and I see with dismay that this operation is setting up in the UK as well. It seems clear that this operates almost like a Ponzi scheme: Paintings are bought from the artist in bulk, maybe at a discount. Sold to "investors" at inflated prices. Then they return your own money back to you at 6% for two years after which time the "rental" income stops. I doubt any of the paintings are ever rented. I have attempted repeatedly to view paintings at the rental location but am always met with excuses. Stay clear of this company. My only hope is that eventually enough people will come forward to discredit a company that is obviously an elaborate scam.
I have the same experience. I think all the buyers should join together and take the case to police. I have 5 art work with them and upon 2 years of each rental complete. You will never get a 2nd rental out. I doubt there were ever a true rental at all.
Read my recent post - have opened a facebook group AFGSCAM - please join!
Hi - I am a Hong Kong-based journalist working on a story to expose the questionable sales tactics at Art Futures Group. I am on the AFGSCAM facebook chat---Freddie Balfour