New York City socialite Libbie Mugrabi says she’s the victim of an “art heist” — and is taking matters into her own hands, distributing “Wanted” posters around East Hampton and the Upper East Side to name and shame the high-powered financiers she claims did her dirty.
“$10,000 reward given for returned painting,” read the flyers, which Mugrabi told The Post were made by her “private investigator and assistant.”
It also includes photos of the art financiers she claims “stole” her Andy Warhol painting “Jackie, 1964,” depicting Jacqueline Kennedy after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
“Last seen taken from Sag Harbor home by art lender company ‘Art Capital LLC.’ If you have any information please contact: Fraudstolenart@gmail.com,” the poster says.
Mugrabi, 44, also included the ages and addresses for Art Capital founders Ian Peck and Terrance Duran, who specialize in asset-based lending involving art and collectibles, and consultant Joon Ho Chun.
“They got passed out in front of [Peck’s Madison Avenue office],” she said of the flyers, adding that she created them to get Peck and Duran’s attention.
She claimed to The Post that she made a deal last November for a $3.5 million loan from Art Capital, using another painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat as collateral.
Mugrabi — who owns a $9.2 million home on the Upper East Side and a $7.2 million home in Sag Harbor — said she wanted the loan “to buy a house in the South of France.”
According to Chun, who said he acted as the middle-man, Mugrabi said she could not pay the required $12,500 deposit to cover an appraisal and promissory note.
“She didn’t have enough money to post a deposit,” Chun told The Post.
In 2021, Mugrabi claimed in court papers that she needed more than the $79,000 a month her ex-husband, art collector David Mugrabi, was paying her as part of their divorce settlement. She told The Post this week that she now gets between $80,000 and $100,000 a month.
“Of course I have $12,500 any day for anyone if they’re owed the money,” Mugrabi said. “[Peck] claimed that the reason they wanted the $12,500 was so I didn’t go to other [lenders] at the same time which I would never.”
Chun claimed Peck and Duran suggested an alternative plan that wouldn’t require a cash deposit.
“Terrance and Ian agreed, in lieu of the money, ‘Why don’t you post or deposit the Andy Warhol Jackie piece instead of the money?’ Ian came [to Mugrabi’s Sag Harbor home] and Libbie had one of the assistants bubble wrap it. They signed documents stating this [Warhol painting] will be the deposit,” Chun said. “I was present when she signed the document.”
A spokesperson for Art Capital told The Post that Mugrabi “voluntarily provided the painting” in connection with the loan application and that her lawyer reviewed the deal before she signed it.
But then, according to Chun, Art Capital said they couldn’t find a lender.
“They said, we can’t lend you the money because all the judgements you have,” Chun told The Post.
Last April, a Manhattan judge ordered Mugrabi to pay more than $1.8 million for unpaid rent on a luxury condo on East 82nd Street. Mugrabi told The Post she is now awaiting the judge’s decision on the removal of the lien.
In November 2022, Mugrabi was arrested and charged with attacking a housekeeper. Mugrabi told The Post this week that charges were dismissed but the housekeeper is asking for $2,200 in restitution over a cell phone that was broken during the incident.
In July 2023, The Post reported that Mugrabi owed nearly $60,000 in unpaid wages and penalties to two former employees and the state, according to court docs. Mugrabi said she settled the case.
Mugrabi said her former father-in-law, Yosef “Jose” Mugrabi, purchased the Warhol painting for $869,000 at Christie’s seven years ago.
Chun, meanwhile, said, Peck and Duran are holding on to the painting until their legal fees are paid.
“When the loan agreement was not consummated, Mugrabi wrongly refused to pay certain fees and expenses related to the transaction and, per the terms of the parties’ agreements, the lender is in lawful possession of the painting as security for the amounts due,” a spokesperson for Art Capital LLC told The Post.
Chun told the Post of the flyer: “I’ve seen it,” Chun said. “It’s laughable. It’s a joke.”
“We categorically reject these outrageous and defamatory allegations,” the Art Capital LLC spokesperson said, calling the wanted poster “defamatory.”
“In a sad attempt to avoid paying amounts duly owed under the parties’ agreements, Ms. Mugrabi regrettably fabricated and disseminated these false and defamatory statements.”
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