MOSCOW, May 13, (RAPSI, Maria Zuyeva) - The Southern District Federal Court in New York has closed Arthur Properties' case against ABA Gallery, according to the case materials obtained by RAPSI.

Both parties agreed to bear their own litigation costs. In July 2012, the court rejected most of the claims against the gallery, which specializes in Russian art, granting the defendants' motion.

The Luxembourg-based Arthur Properties claimed that it was defrauded by the gallery while buying 18 pieces of 19th- and 20th-century art. The company said four of the works were forged and that ABA exaggerated the market value of the other 14. Initially, it set the damages at $8.9 million, claiming to have paid $6.5 million in excess of the art's market value and $2.4 million for forged paintings.

The plaintiff insisted on the deal's termination and sought damages.

The art involved in the lawsuit was purchased by Ukrainian national Oleksandr Savchuk for private aims. Part of the money was transacted via two Luxembourg companies that he controls, Kahdena Ventures Corp. and Brooke Ventures Ltd.

An expert evaluation by the Swiss Kunstberatung Zurich AG held in November-December 2008 revealed the questionable authentication of four paintings. However, no definitive evidence of forgery was found, and the plaintiff failed to prove that gallery owner Anatoly Bekkerman has knowingly or unknowingly made false statements regarding the authenticity of the artwork. Complaints that the other paintings were severely overpriced have also been rejected by the court.