A lawyer is being sued by a Manhattan art collector who claims the Park Avenue attorney swindled him out of a bronze sculpture for a fraction of the value.

Art collector Stuart Pivar is suing attorney John McFadden for $200 million after selling him Mademoiselle Pogani II, a piece by noted Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, for $100,000. Pivar alleges he believed McFadden was brokering a deal with an auction house or museum for the sale of the sculpture.

According to the lawsuit, McFadden convinced Pivar to accept $100,000 from him for the sculpture and to have the owner listed as McFadden because it would be “advantageous” to both men if the sale was made with the attorney, rather than the art collector, listed as the owner. Now, McFadden claims he is the rightful owner of the sculpture; Pivar claims he was swindled.

“The aforesaid conduct by (McFadden) constitutes a theft by deception and a fraud [from the beginning]  as it was never the intention of the defendant to offer the sculpture for sale to the museum, but rather to obtain ownership of the statue itself by deceit, misrepresentation and subterfuge,” the suit reads.

According to the lawsuit, McFadden was fired from a Philadelphia museum for misconduct in 2014. The actual value of the sculpture was not referenced in the lawsuit.

—Source: nypost.com