PUTTING THE “SIN” IN SINUESSA: 2018 New Mexico LLC Formed By David Damante Morphs Into Florida’s 2020 “Pharma-PH LLC”; NM Sinuessa Shell Company Used By Damante In Art Fraud Swindle That Landed Him Back In Prison
Woo, boy!
Some people never learn from their mistakes…they just keep repeating them.
And by “some people” I mean convicted felon and “Florida man” David R. Damante.
On June 29, 2018, I published a story on my crime/fraud blog, “Glistening, Quivering Underbelly”, about David Damante’s previously secret role in the formation of three New Mexico corporations and Damante using his purported “ownership” of two Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings to fraudulently obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Damante, on probation at the time from his federal fraud conviction, (on November 11, 2012, Damante pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud) was restricted from engaging in employment, consulting, or any association with self-employment for a period of two years, except as discussed and approved by his probation officer.
Did Damante heed that prohibition?
Oh, hell no!
On June 22, 2018, a search of Damante’s vehicle was executed by officers with the United States Probation Office.
Officers recovered numerous documents titled “Settlement Agreement, Assignment and Release”, identifying Damante as the Managing Member for Sinuessa Fine Art, LLC.
Damante signed these documents as the Managing Member for the limited liability company. (NOTE: That entity was formed in New Mexico, a state known for permitting anonymous LLC’s. In addition, New Mexico does not require annual reports, limiting public disclosure of businesses formed in the state.)
But, like they say, do what you know best.
If you’re a runner, run and if you’re a con man, con.
In September 2020, Damante “amended” that New Mexico corporation, and changed it’s name to “Pharma-PH LLC”.
Florida corporation records show that Damante registered a “Sinuessa Fine Art LLC” as Florida business entity on September 27, 2021, and registered Pharma-PH LLC in Florida on December 15, 2021.
Gotta love that Sinuessa, eh Dave?
On June 5, 2018, as managing member for New Mexico-based Sinuessa Fine Art, LLC, Damante executed a financial document titled “Agreement” where he conveyed the work of art referenced to as “Helicopter” to Lumsden Quan (NOTE: Quan is a San Francisco-based art dealer who was sentenced on December 16, 2015, to one year and two days sentence for knowingly selling black rhinoceros horns to an undercover agent of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.) Damante and Quan met where you’d expect two experienced con men to hook up — in stir, the tank, the Gray Bar Hotel, the slammer. Take your pick, they all mean the same thing: prison.
In this case, FCI Terminal Island, located between San Pedro and Long Beach, California.
Damante was sprung roughly five months earlier, on February 28, 2017, after serving a ten month stretch at Terminal Island for violating the terms of his release on a federal wire fraud conviction.
According to this document, the conveyance of this work of art was the resolution of a dispute between the two parties “regarding ownership of an unfinished work for art attributed to the late artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, that being, a mixed media work in paint, spray paint, and oil stick on wood panel, measuring 64” x 48”, known by the working titles of “Helicopter” and “Helicopter Cityscape” (shown above).
Damante executed this financial agreement without the approval of the probation officer.
But on May 30, 2018, just days before “conveying” the “work of art” to Quan, Damante, as managing member of Sinuessa Fine Art, LLC, executed a financial agreement titled “Settlement Agreement, Assignment and Release”.
According to this agreement, Damante is indebted to Heidi Hegg in the amount of $375,000 whereas this “debt” was secured by assigning to Hegg “an interest in a work of art attributed to the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat known by the working title “Helicopter” or “Helicopter Cityscape” purportedly owned by Damante.
Damante did not have the approval of the probation officer to incur this debt, or consummate his financial agreement.
On May 31, 2018, Damante, as managing member of Sinuessa Fine Art, LLC, executed a financial agreement titled “Settlement Agreement, Assignment and Release”.
According to this agreement, Damante was shown “indebted to Maria Alexandra Senecal for an unknown amount” whereas this “debt” was secured by assigning to Senecal “an interest in a work of art attributed to the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat known by the working title “Helicopter” or “Helicopter Cityscape” purportedly owned by Damante.
Pay attention very closely: Damante used a fake Basquiat painting he didn’t own to swindle two women out of nearly $500,000.
How did he do that?
David Damante (using the false surname, “Diamante”) obtained an important tool that enabled him to perpetrate his years-long art fraud scam: a June 7, 2017 letter (shown below) from Las Vegas gallery Art encounter authenticating a painting Damante possessed as the work of the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Later, an Art encounter appraiser issued an extensive, 18-page “Valuation Determination for Potential Resale” for the artwork, entitled “Helicopter Cityscape”, pegging its “Fair Market Value” at $6,500,000.
The documents shown were obtained from a confidential source, including the proof of authenticity and appraisal (excerpted above), which a Las Vegas-based Art encounter representative acknowledged in a July 23, 2018 email were genuine.
David Damante used the Art encounter-generated documents (along with a bundle of forged and misleading documents) to pull off an art scam that landed him back in federal custody.
And, now that “Sinuessa Fine Art LLC” has crash-landed in Florida, I’ll bet he’ll try it again.
(Psst! Wanna loan me a couple mill on this fake piece of dreck? Listen to Damante — AKA “Diamante”, try to make a deal on this exclusive phone message.)
