Ms Diana Brooks (51), known in the trade as "Dede", has delivered what may well be the killer blow to her former boss. On the seventh day of the Manhattan trial on price-fixing charges against the Sotheby's chairman, Mr Alfred Taubman, on Monday Ms Brooks testified that the accused had described to her a secret, and, since then, much denied, conversation he had with his Christie's counterpart.
The two agreed, she said, that they "were killing each other on the bottom line, and that it was time to do something about it". He told her as the company's chief executive to arrange the details and insisted she keep quiet about it. "I said, 'Fine, I wouldn't tell anyone'," she told the court. She said he told her it was Christie's turn to go first with higher prices and Sotheby's would follow.
She claims she then met her Christie's counterpart, Mr Christopher Davidge, several times. On March 9th, 1995, Christie's announced new non-negotiable sellers' fees. She promptly called Mr Taubman, who already knew about it. "He said to me, 'Congratulations'," she testified.
Sotheby's adopted the rates, with a few changes, on April 13th.
Mr Taubman (76), a shopping mall billionaire from Michigan, has denied charges he and the Christie's chairman, Mr Anthony Tennant, effectively stole as much as $400 million in commissions from sellers from 1993 to 1999 by agreeing the non-negotiable fees with his rival and even exchanging customer lists. Mr Tennant (71) of Andover, England, remains a fugitive.
Sotheby's pleaded guilty last year to price-fixing charges and was sentenced to pay $45 million and Ms Brooks was also convicted for her part - her testimony against Mr Taubman, who says she acted alone, is part of a plea bargain to avoid jail and a substantial fine. Discrediting her testimony will be key to the defence.
When the price-fixing scheme collapsed, she testified, and she insisted on meeting Mr Taubman only in the presence of a Sotheby's lawyer.
