Last week, a one-time employee of Imelda Marcos, the wife of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was sentenced to six years in prison. Vilma Bautista, Marcos’ former secretary, had attempted to sell museum-quality paintings belonging to the Marcoses that were acquired using the couple’s ill-gotten wealth. The works went missing around 1986 when Ferdinand Marcos was removed from power following an uprising.
The Philippines is asking for the return of three unsold paintings -- Claude Monet’s ‘L’Église et la Seine à Vétheuil,’ Alfred Sisley’s ‘Langland Bay,’ and Albert Marquet’s ‘Le Cyprès de Djenan Sidi Said.’ Bautista did manage to sell a different Monet painting, ‘Le Bassin aux Nymphéas,’ from his water-lily series, which fetched $32 million. The Philippine government claims that the paintings were acquired with state funds and that they belong to the Filipino people. The government plans to file a civil case in New York to recover the artworks.
Bautista was convicted in November of conspiracy and tax fraud charges related to the sale or attempted-sale of the paintings. Imelda Marcos has been charged with civil and criminal crimes but has never been jailed. She denies that her wealth was acquired in a dishonest manner.
