Justin Sun, the crypto bro art collector who spent millions on Maurizio Cattalan’s banana artwork late last year, has filed a lawsuit against entertainment mogul David Geffen to reclaim a sculpture by the artist Alberto Giacometti that he claims was stolen.
Sun, 34, filed the lawsuit against Geffen, 81, in Manhattan federal court over the sculpture Le Nez. He alleged that a former employee named Xiong Zihan Sydney stole it from him and sold it to Geffen without his knowledge.
In court documents, the Tron blockchain founder said he bought the statue with Xiong’s assistance at the Sotheby’s New York auction of the Macklowe collection in November 2021 for $78.4 million. Giacometti conceived the work in 1947–49, and it was cast in 1965. The Giacometti Committee has confirmed its authenticity.
The Hong Kong-based businessman later posted on social media that he planned to donate Le Nez to the Singapore-based APENFT Foundation, a project focused on investment in non-fungible tokens in the art world.
But Sun alleged he never donated or otherwise transferred it to APENFT. When he was contacted in 2023 by the Giacometti Fondation requesting that he loan it for an exhibition at the Institute Giacometti in Paris, France, he agreed. APENFT, which is owned by one of Sun’s relatives, concurrently displayed it virtually as part of its blockchain-related exhibitions.
The sculpture was shown at Institut Giacometti through January 2024, when it was to be returned to Sun’s art storage facility in Singapore. “Xiong, however, had hatched a scheme to steal Le Nez and sell it, with the intention of pocketing at least hundreds of thousands of dollars for herself,” Sun’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
Sun’s lawyers admitted that he is a “relatively new collector” and “not as familiar with the Modern and Contemporary art market” as Geffen. Xiong acted as an adviser to Sun on such topics, they said, but insisted she did not have the authority to make deals on his behalf.
“Xiong was familiar with [Sun’s] efforts to enhance APENFT’s brand, including in connection with the Giacometti Fondation exhibition of Le Nez. Xiong was also aware that [he] had expressed interest in selling Le Nez,” the complaint reads. “Xiong seized on that information to engineer her theft and fraud.”
Sun said Xiong told him in January 2024 that she might be able to find someone interested in buying the statue from him. Sun told her to let him know if she found anyone who would pay more than $80 million for it. When the show in Paris ended, Xiong allegedly had the statue sent to an art warehouse in Delaware, even though Sun said she had no authority to do so.
According to the lawsuit, Xiong misrepresented APENFT as the sculpture’s owner and allegedly forged Sun’s signature on deal documents. She also introduced a purported Chinese lawyer named “Laura Chang” from the Yingke Law Firm to validate the sale—though Sun now questions whether Chang even exists.
Sun claims that Xiong ultimately exchanged Le Nez for two other artworks from Geffen’s collection, valued at $55 million, plus an additional $10.5 million in cash. The total sale price, according to Sun, was $65.5 million—far below the $80 million he had sought to solicit from its sale.
The collector alleged that Geffen should have noticed red flags in the transaction, including the unusual inclusion of a Chinese lawyer with a Gmail account. Sun alleged that Xiong confessed to the fraud in May 2024.
Sun believes the sculpture is now stashed at Geffen’s home. He said he has contacted Geffen’s lawyers demanding the return of the sculpture but alleged that the rival collector refused its return. He is seeking the return of the statue or $80 million in damages.
Tibor Nagy, a lawyer for Geffen, released a statement to the New York Times in which he characterized Sun’s allegations as “seller’s remorse” and called the claims in the lawsuit “bizarre and baseless.”
