The founder of the now-bankrupt Galerie Thomas in Munich is being investigated alongside his daughter on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust, and delaying insolvency proceedings, German officials said.
Raidmund Thomas founded the gallery in 1964 and gained a reputation for selling high-value German expressionism, modernism, and post-war and contemporary art. It was among the best-known secondary market dealerships in Germany. His daughter, Silke Thomas, managed the gallery with her father from 1996. She was arrested and taken in custody in December before being released on January 24.
According to The Art Newspaper, her lawyer has declined to comment “out of respect for the pending criminal investigation.”
The whereabouts of Silke Thomas’ 87-year-old father, though, remains a mystery, according to the Munich prosecutor’s office. It said damages from the pair’s alleged fraud could be worth more than 10 million euros.
The gallery declared insolvency last July.
Hubert Ampferl, the insolvency administrator, wrote in an email to The Art Newspaper that, “The offices and gallery space in Türkenstrasse 6, Munich, were cleared out at the end of January 2025 and handed over to the landlord.” He said that any property owned by people of entities other than Galerie Thomas has been returned to them.
Ampferl wrote that over the past few months, his team has looked into claims from over 200 creditors.
Inside Galerie Thomas’ spring 2024 catalog were works by Wassily Kandinksy, Gustav Klimt, and Marc Chagall.
Raidmund Thomas’ houses in Grünwald and Peissenberg, areas south of Munich – and his apartment in the city – were search by investigators in mid-December. His daughter’s home and the premises of Galerie Thomas were also raided by police.
The Munich prosecutor’s office said the investigation is “an extensive procedure which is expected to take some time.”
Galerie Thomas attended art fairs including Art Basel in Basel, Hong Kong, and Miami Beach, TEFAF in Maastricht, and New York’s The Armory Show. In 2016, Raidmund Thomas was awarded the annual Art Cologne prize for “exceptional performance in the communication of art.”
