[CPProt.net] Getty Curator Resigns in Loan Flap. Marion True bought a Greek home with help arranged by a major supplier to the museum.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-getty3oct03,0,4789889.story?coll=la-
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Getty Curator Resigns in Loan Flap
Marion True bought a Greek home with help arranged by a major supplier to
the museum.
By Ralph Frammolino and Jason Felch
Times Staff Writers

October 3, 2005

The curator of antiquities for the J. Paul Getty Museum bought a vacation
home in the Greek islands after one of the museum's main suppliers of
ancient art introduced her to a lawyer who arranged a nearly $400,000 loan.

The Getty said in a statement Saturday evening that the curator, Marion
True, had resigned after museum officials confronted her about the loan,
which she obtained in 1995.

The statement, released in response to questions from The Times, said the
loan breached museum policy, which requires employees to report even the
appearance of a conflict of interest.

"The Getty has determined through its own investigation that Marion True
failed to report certain aspects of her Greek house purchase transaction in
violation of Getty policy," the statement said. "In the course of the
Getty's discussions with Ms. True on this matter, she chose voluntarily to
retire."

True, 56, faces trial in an Italian court on charges that she conspired with
dealers who were trafficking in looted antiquities. In its statement, the
Getty said she was retiring to devote her full energies to her defense. 

Internal Getty records obtained by The Times show that museum officials knew
three years ago about the loan True obtained for the vacation home. The
Getty declined comment on the documents.

Italian authorities say Interpol in Greece is investigating the loan. 

True bought the property in 1995, paying about $400,000 for the white villa
in a walled compound covering an acre of land on Paros, a picturesque island
that is a popular vacation destination.

In purchasing the property, True had trouble finding financing. American
banks wouldn't lend money on Greek property, and Greek banks refused to give
loans to foreigners.

True discussed her desire to purchase the home with Christo Michailidis, an
art dealer based in London. He and his partner, Robin Symes, were at the
time among the Getty's biggest suppliers of Greek, Roman and Etruscan
antiquities. 

Michailidis put her in touch with Dimitri Peppas, a lawyer with offices in
the port of Athens. Peppas then arranged a loan for True. The loan was made
through an entity called the Sea Star Corp. and deposited into a Swiss bank
account, records show. The records do not identify the original source of
the funds.

Harry Stang, True's attorney, said last month that Michailidis had done
nothing more than introduce True to Peppas. 

"To Ms. True's knowledge, neither Mr. Symes nor any member of the
Michailidis family was involved in obtaining the loan for her, save for Mr.
Michailidis' introduction to Mr. Peppas," Stang said.

He said Michailidis, now deceased, described Peppas to True as a "financier
for Greek shipping companies."

Stang released a letter True wrote to Peppas in June 1996 in which she
informed him that she had arranged a 20-year mortgage from a New York bank
affiliated with the National Bank of Greece. She discussed repayment of the
loan Peppas had arranged.

"You must know how grateful I am to you for helping me to purchase the house
in Greece, but as you can imagine, the longer period of time will make the
repayment process much easier for me," she wrote to Peppas. True added she
would be on Paros for the summer and "I hope to lure you and Lia to visit
me!"

Stang also released a check for $386,286 to the Sea Star Corp., showing that
True repaid the loan in July 1996.

In announcing True's resignation, Getty officials declined to say what
aspects of the museum's ethics policy True might have violated. However, the
museum's conflict-of-interest rules require employees to disclose "any
transaction that would create even the appearance of favoritism." The policy
also prohibits "owing money to or borrowing money from any supplier or
dealer or from an individual or firm . with whom the trust does business of
any kind."

A nephew of Michailidis, Dimitri Papadimitriou, said he discussed the loan
with his uncle and Peppas, whom he described as a lawyer for Michailidis.

Papadimitriou, president of Liquimar Tanker Management, a Greek oil tanker
company owned by his family, said his uncle told him about the transaction
in 1995 while the two were on vacation.

He said he understood from his conversations with Michailidis and Peppas
that the source of the loan "wasn't supposed to be known" and for that
reason the money was provided through a corporation.

Reached in Greece, Peppas' son and legal partner declined to comment.

Asked if he played a role in the loan to True, Symes said in a recent
interview: "That's rubbish." He suggested, however, that it was possible
Michailidis offered it on his own.

In 1999, Michailidis died after falling down some stairs in an Italian
villa. 

A year later, Italian authorities notified the Getty that True was under
investigation for allegedly conspiring to buy looted art.

The Italians interrogated True about her relationship with Symes. Since True
became curator in 1986, he and Michailidis had sold the Getty $30 million
worth of objects, many of which Italy now says were stolen from ancient
graves and ruins.

Getty attorneys in Los Angeles first learned of True's loan in 2002, when
Ludovic de Walden, the Getty's London counsel, informed them of the
transaction, records show.

De Walden said the transaction was carried out through a lawyer who worked
for Symes and Michailidis in Athens. De Walden didn't name the attorney. He
said he doubted the Italians would find out about the loan. That information
was conveyed to Getty General Counsel Peter Erichsen and then-museum
Director Deborah Gribbon, who questioned True about the transaction, records
show. Getty officials declined to say what True told them at the time about
the loan. Efforts to seek comment from Erichsen were unsuccessful. Gribbon
declined Sunday to talk to a reporter.

Before her retirement, the Getty had retained a team of attorneys to defend
both True and the museum in the Italian case. It is not clear whether the
museum will continue to defend her, or whether she will now be responsible
for her own defense.

As antiquities curator, True led the museum's $275 million renovation of the
Getty Villa in Malibu, which will showcase the museum's antiquities
collection when it reopens this winter.

In response to the Italian investigation, an internal review by Getty
attorneys found that True and other museum officials continued doing
business with a handful of dealers, including Symes and Michailidis, despite
signs that they were trafficking in possibly looted antiquities, The Times
reported last month. In one case, documents show, True purchased an object
after the dealer informed her it was being sought by Italian police. 

Times special correspondent Maria Panaritis contributed to this article with
reporting from Athens and Paros.