Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"

American filmmaker, record executive, and art collector David Geffen has filed a counterclaim against cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sun Yuchen, concerning the ownership of a sculpture valued at several million dollars.

The billionaire American media mogul filed the counterclaim on April 16, stating that Sun Yuchen's lawsuit is a "sham" and also accusing him of engaging in "unethical and/or illegal business activities."

Sun Yuchen sued Geffen in February, claiming that the sculpture was stolen by his former employee, who then sold the artwork to Geffen for approximately $65 million in an art and cash transaction.

Sun Yuchen purchased the sculpture "Le Nez," created by Alberto Giacometti, for $78 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2021, with the assistance of former art advisor Xiong Zihan in completing the transaction.

In a 100-page counterclaim, Geffen alleges that Sun Yuchen and Xiong Zihan "fabricated this fraudulent lawsuit after failing to profit from the sale of two paintings exchanged for the sculpture and $10.5 million in cash."

The counterclaim states: "Sun Yuchen's claims regarding the 'Le Nez' sculpture are baseless, entirely malicious, and maliciously interfere with Geffen's ownership of 'Le Nez.'"

Geffen also claims that Sun Yuchen is eager to sell the sculpture due to the cryptocurrency market crash in 2022 and 2023, and that his crypto platforms Poloniex and HTX suffered multiple hacking incidents in 2023, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

Key disputes include whether Xiong Zihan admitted to stealing the sculpture, whether Sun Yuchen's statements regarding the amount allegedly stolen by Xiong Zihan are inconsistent, and Geffen's claim that Sun Yuchen still holds cash and paintings, which are currently held by an art dealer.

Fraud Allegations

Geffen further accuses Sun Yuchen of having a history of fraudulent behavior, such as being sued by former employees who alleged he was punished for refusing to engage in "unethical and/or illegal business activities" and making false statements in other lawsuits.

According to ArtNet, on April 17, Sun Yuchen's lawyer William Charron dismissed some key points in Geffen's counterclaim.

He stated: "Ms. Xiong has admitted to her theft and has been arrested in China, where she remains in custody."

He added: "Despite these facts, Mr. Geffen insists that Ms. Xiong is not a thief, believes she has always spoken on behalf of Mr. Sun, and that she is still free to operate in China today. Mr. Geffen's statements are extremely misleading. We eagerly anticipate resolving this case through litigation and recovering Mr. Sun's property."

Last November, Sun Yuchen purchased Maurizio Cattelan's work "Comedian"—a banana taped to a wall—for $6.2 million at Sotheby's in New York, and then ate the banana at a press conference as a publicity stunt.

Related: $150 million money market fund joins Arbitrum's RWA ecosystem

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。