Autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church Of Cyprus v. Goldberg & Feldman Fine Arts, Inc.

917 F.2d 278 (7th Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 941 (1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Vandals in war-torn Cyprus plundered a Greek Church removing anything of value from its interior. The mosaic in question had been ripped from the apse of the church, and the church was converted into a stable for farm animals. The Republic of Cyprus took immediate steps to recover the looted mosaics. The word was spread to experts and scholars who would probably be involved in any intimate sale of the mosaics. These efforts have paid off as many stolen relics and antiquities were returned. The four mosaics at issue from the Kanakaria Church were located. Peg Goldberg is an art dealer and gallery operator. She bought the four mosaics while on a trip to Europe for her gallery. Peg learned that the people she was doing business with had criminal backgrounds related to art theft and forgery. Peg was fed a story about how the work was found in the rubble of an extinct church in Northern Cyprus. A purchase price of $1,080,000 was agreed upon, and the parties agreed to split the profits from any resale; this was memorialized in a written contract. Peg then went to the bank to get a loan for the purchase, and the bank agreed provided that appraisals and other documents substantiating the transaction were presented. Peg obtained three appraisals with the help of the sellers and the mosaics came in at between $3-6 million. Peg inspected the four mosaics in a free port area of the Geneva airport. During the few days before the closing transactions Peg called around to make sure that the pieces were not stolen and that no treaties would prevent her from taking them to the U.S. This part of Peg's testimony was clearly doubted by the judge during trial as no records of her claimed extensive search existed. The judge was sure that Peg did not contact the Republic of Cyprus or the TRNC, the Church of Cyprus, Interpol, nor a single disinterested expert on Byzantine art. The case transaction was accomplished and Peg got a general bill of sale. Eventually the articles were put up for sale but the Cyprus officials soon discovered the stolen artifacts. During the trial, the judge awarded possession of the mosaics to the Church of Cyprus. Peg appealed.