Danny tells a story of fraud and greed in the art world. Late last year, David Ramus, (RAY-mus) a former art dealer, was convicted in an Atlanta (Georgia) court of fraud. The owner of a painting would ask Ramus to sell a painting on consignment. Ramus would sell the painting,but not tell the owner. Instead, Ramus would keep the money for himself. Ramus now says he never set out to cheat anybody and that he "chose clearly a wrong thing to do." The plot thickens: Last year, the publisher HarperCollins paid Ramus a one-million dollar advance for his first novel, THIEF OF LIGHT, a story about fraud set in the high-stakes 1980's art world. Ramus says he will use part of the proceeds from the book to pay back his former art clients. In this piece, we'll hear from Ramus; Atlanta journalist Vincent Coppola; Larry Ashmead, Executive Editor and Vice President, HarperCollins Publishers; and Constance Lowenthal of the International Foundation for Art Research.
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