In the ongoing legal case against Spanish billionaire Jaime Botín, who’s accused of smuggling a Picasso out of Spain, the prosecutor has requested a four-year prison sentence and a €100 million fine against the heir and collector, a member of Spain’s most successful banking family.
Botín is the owner of an early painting by Pablo Picasso, Head of a Young Woman (1906), which was seized by French authorities in the summer of 2015 from a yacht docked in Corsica and registered to a company of which Botín is the major shareholder.
The €26 million painting was declared a cultural treasure by the Spanish National Court in May 2015 and had been refused an export permit prior to the seizure.
In August 2015, the seized painting was transported to the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, where it will remain until the investigation is completed. However, it could potentially remain in the museum much longer: In addition to the prison sentence and the hefty fine, El País reports that the prosecutor is requesting that ownership of the work be transferred to the state, invoking article 29 of the Spanish Heritage Law. read more