Artist cheered 12.5 million francs from Swiss billionaire couple

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The artist Konrad U. (64) with a friend in the emirate of Dubai: After the difficulties with the Swiss judiciary, he prefers to stay in the desert state for the time being.

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The artist seems to love luxury. Here he stands in front of an expensive hotel.

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The artist in front of a modern building in Dubai. He now lives there. He no longer dares to go to Switzerland. Upon entering the country, he is threatened with arrest.

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At first it sounded like a dream job: One of the richest married couples in the world donated 20 million francs to businessman Tobias R. * (76) to coach the famous artist Konrad U. * (64) for new works of art.

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However, it ended in a nightmare. According to the criminal court of Zug, R. was mismanaged. In addition to a conditional prison sentence of 14 months, he may not continue to work as a managing director or member of the board of directors, either in Switzerland or abroad.

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Luxurious living financed

The court accuses the businessman of having recklessly paid the artist Konrad U. money for a luxurious life. The judgment shows that payments over CHF 12.5 million were not justified for business purposes and therefore only served the maestro’s private interests.

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The wealthy couple, living in Switzerland, reported Tobias R. for mismanagement. To Blick, however, R. says that he is referring the judgment to the higher court. It is the presumption of innocence.

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According to the list in the court ruling, artist Konrad U. had a very good time at the expense of the billionaires: in 2005 alone, he received over one million francs in 16 tranches. For the period between 2005 and 2009, the court files also contain a long list of private expenses that the artist made with the clients’ money. It was made possible by R., who diligently approved payments.

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Creative break in Gstaad

For example, U. and his family spent the winter of 2005 in Gstaad BE. Renting a chalet cost around 20,000 francs, a pair of skis 1,200 francs, and U. needed a good 16,000 francs as pocket money.

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The renovation of the artist’s private house in New York was also paid for with Swiss money for 129,000 francs. His high mobile phone bills are also chalked up on him. According to the judgment, he gossiped between 1,500 and 5,000 francs a month on his cell phone. The hotel costs are also considerable: in 2005 and 2006 he stayed in five-star accommodations for a total of 80,000 francs.

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Even when it comes to living, the man did not think of saving: his apartment in London listed expenses of over 600,000 francs for two years. In addition, at the couple’s expense, he treated himself to two club memberships for several thousand francs as well as interior fittings for well over 50,000 francs – including an antique chandelier and a walk-in cloakroom in the bedroom.

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Finally, the artist generously delegated the dirty work in the household: in 2006, he spent over 200,000 francs on two servants. According to court files, a lot of money flowed into the artist’s account in 2007 and 2008 – until Tobias R.’s company finally went bankrupt in 2010.

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Nothing except expenses

Originally, the wealthy Swiss couple made the millions available only for the production of new works by the artist. These should have been shown in an exhibition at the billionaires’ castle. After that, the works of art should have been auctioned for a multiple of the investment. But nothing came of it.

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Tobias R. explains it like this: “In 2005 the exhibition should have taken place within six months. But it was always postponed. The works of art would have been ready. ” The investors had private problems that made an exhibition impossible, he defends himself. Then at one point the accounts were empty, the works of art had finally been sold for a fraction of their value.

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