Tycoon jailed and fined $7.5m for auction house commission-fixing scandal

The former chairman of Sotheby's, one of America's wealthiest business tycoons, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison yesterday and fined $7.5m (£5.4m) for his role in a price-fixing scheme with Christies that has scandalised the normally stately world of fine arts auctions.

Alfred Taubman, who is 78 years old and in failing health, received scant sympathy at his sentencing in a Manhattan courtroom. "Regardless of what he has obtained in life, no one is above the law," Judge George Daniels said in sentencing him.

The fate of Mr Taubman stands in stark contrast to that of his alleged co- conspirator in the scheme, Sir Anthony Tennant, who at the time of the conspiracy was head of Christie's.

Both men were charged with setting fixed rates of commission they would levy on sellers to minimise competition between them. The two houses control about 90 per cent of the world's fine arts market. Sellers who used Sotheby's were overcharged $43.8m during the six years of the collusion.

Sir Anthony, 71, for years a revered figure in British auction circles and a former head of Guinness, declined to travel to America to stand trial. American prosecutors have been unable to extradite him under current treaty provisions.

While prosecutors had sought three years for Mr Taubman, his supporters and relatives had appealed for leniency in his sentencing. His lawyers wrote in pre-sentencing papers: "Mr Taubman's once stellar reputation, which took him decades of incredibly hard work and humanity to build, has been shattered, literally overnight. The humiliation he has endured is simply indescribable."

But Judge Daniels was unswayed. "This was not a crime motivated by desperation and need, but arrogance and greed ... He risked it all," he said, making oblique reference to the culture of élitism that for so long reigned in the hallways of both auction firms.

Nor did efforts by Mr Taubman's lawyers to emphasise his philanthropy over the years help his case. Prosecutors responded that while he had indeed been generous to charitable causes, it was not surprising given that he is worth an estimated $640m.

Mr Taubman, who suffers from heart disease, hypertension and renal failure, made his fortune originally building shopping centres in the midwest of the United States. He sought to become chairman of Sotheby's in part because of the effect it would have on his social status.