Update: Ritchies Auctioneers

The Antique Trade Gazette has a short update on the bankruptcy of Canada's Ritchies Auctioneers.  The auction house was associated with Sotheby's until this past July, followed by ownership issues and finally a bankruptcy filing.  The ATG is reporting that bankruptcy trustees are finding poor record keeping, with no financial reports having been prepared sine the middle of 2008.  A rather startling lack of internal controls for what once was considered one of the better Canadian houses. It appears that consignors may be out nearly $8 million.

Artinfo just released the news that Sotheby's was very pleased with its Canadian Art sale held last week. This was the first Sotheby's auction since the Rictchies/Sotheby's partnership failed.  The sale estimate was between $3.5 and $5 million, with the total being $5.3 million.  Click HERE to read the Artinfo update on the sale.

The ATG  report is short, so I will post in its entirety.

The trustee appointed to oversee the collapse of Toronto-based Ritchies Auctioneers has presented a damning portrait of the company’s operations.

A preliminary report presented by the trustee in bankruptcy at the Toronto Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada on November 17 criticises – in particular – Ritchies’ record keeping.

No financial statements were prepared by the company after June 2008 and its electronic database was not maintained, with the result that the company’s records do not include an accurate listing of the inventory or its owners.

According to the report, the money Ritchies collected from auction sales was not put in a separate trust account for consignors. “Instead all funds were commingled in the general accounts.” By late October, the company’s bank accounts were “either overdrawn or had minimal balances”.

The report states that the company has assets of just under $1.8m but liabilities of $8.53m. Of these, close to $8m is owed to “general consignors”.