New York’s Tracey Amon filed a request on July 25 in the US District Court for the District of Southern New York to subpoena art advisor Sanford “Sandy” Heller. She wants him to turn over documents for use in her lawsuits in Switzerland over the disposition of the assets of her late husband, Maurice Alain Amon, who retained Heller as an advisor starting in 2013. Heller has been described as “possibly the biggest art advisor in the world,” and reputedly works with Roman Abramovich and Steve Cohen.
The heir to the company SIPCA, which makes inks used in printing currency, Maurice died at 68 in 2019 while on holiday in Saint Tropez. The filing puts his value at some $600 million in assets and business interests at the time of his death, and asserts that Tracey is looking for her rightful share. The request revolves around Heller’s valuation of the collection.
The two married in Hong Kong in 2008 “without signing a marriage contract on that occasion or later,” according to an exhibit. He filed abroad for divorce in 2015 without telling her, says the filing, which claims he secretly removed some 20 artworks, collectively valued at $25 million, from their New York home. He allegedly also spirited away artworks from other residences. He claimed in court filings in 2017 that after losing her key, she took a blowtorch to a lockbox in their Paris home, allegedly leaving a toxic dust over artworks by the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol.
While the divorce was in process, he allegedly executed a will naming Albert Amon, his son from a previous marriage, as his only heir, and his assistant, Silvio Venturi, as executor. The New York Post reported that in 2018, she had won about $123,000 a month in spousal support and a lump sum of about $1.3 million in a Monaco court. He allegedly added other legatees and beneficiaries in a codicil executed in Singapore in 2019. She sued Albert and Venturi in Switzerland in 2020; they also brought an action against her.
The Justice of the Peace in Lausanne ordered the administration of the estate in December 2024. Administrator Olivier Weniger issued an inventory in December 2025, along with a report from accounting firm KPMG with an evaluation of the art holdings as of 2019 of Artmon, the holding company through which Amon held his artworks, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands.
“It appears that the value of Artmon’s artworks diminished dramatically during 2019,” says the filing, adding, “This diminution appears to be based at least partially on Heller’s valuation.” Heller reported capital losses of €33.4 million and latent capital gains of €7.5 million, for a loss of about €26 million, or $29.6 million. “But,” says the filing (in bold type and italics), “there is no list of the works Heller actually examined, no methodology provided, and no information as to when Heller did its evaluation.”
Heller did not immediately return a request for comment.
Tracey Amon is seeking the complete valuation report and all associated work product, including the list of artworks examined, comparables considered, the valuation methodology, and all relevant correspondence. She also seeks documentation of all of Heller’s dealings with Artmon and the Maurice Amon estate, including any art sales, art purchases, consignments, inventories, invoices, and the like.
The court has yet to respond to Amon’s request.
