Did you see this article about a prominent art dealer accused of stealing his clients art and money? According to the article and to this one, this art dealer hung his clients’ art in his gallery, sold it (sometimes more than once) and kept the money. A giant Ponzi scheme. Allegedly, Robert De Niro and John McEnroe were victims. I don’t know if these allegations are true. And, most dealers I know are terrific and honest and good. But, I do hear stories about crooked dealers more than I would like from a variety of people (and, in fact, just today).
Can we avoid this breach of trust? No, not completely. Think of all the smart and worldly people who lost everything down Madoff’s drain. Getting swindled is a risk of doing business.