A wealthy businessman is having an art attack watching the value of his $25 million painting collection plummet as his estranged wife delays their legal battle, according to new court papers.
Manhattan socialite Tracey Hejailan-Amon appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday with a new legal team to ask a judge for permission to dump her prior law firm.
Maurice Amon and Tracy Hejailan-Amon in 2015.Getty Images But her Swiss soon-to-be-ex, Maurice Alain Amon says in a legal filing that the move is “game play to simply delay the case” — and he’s losing money practically by the hour over it.
A judge had ordered the art collection, which includes a Basquiat and a Warhol, to remain locked in a storage facility pending the outcome of the pair’s battle. But Maurice wants to sell the works as soon as possible, noting that art sales were down 45 percent at a London auction this month.
His lawyer, Peter Bronstein, is asking a judge to make Tracey post a bond for $25 million to secure the value of the paintings in case she ultimately loses the case.
Hejailan-Amon is fighting for a cut of the collection, saying she helped acquire it.
She declined to comment Thursday. Amon was not in court.
