July 21, 2005

Maintenance

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ROH Funded by Alleged Fraudster!

It's one thing when a credit card company demands that you repay money you have spent on their card but when a recipient of charitable donations demands you pay up or else you know it could only happen in the arts.

Alberto Vilar whom the Guardian is reporting has made over US$200 million in donations to the arts around the world is under threat of having his name removed from the Vilar Floral Hall at the Royal Opera House (ROH), named for him following written agreements, if he fails to make further payments to the London theatre. It is reported that his donations to the opera house so far have topped £4million.

The ROH would neither confirm nor deny that the hall will be renamed if the donations are not made.

Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas says in today's Guardian;

"the Floral Hall was named the Vilar Floral Hall as part of the agreement made in September 1999 that Alberto Vilar would pay £10m towards the Royal Opera House development appeal ... However, he has consistently failed to reach these new deadlines, and in doing so is in breach of all agreements."

Mr Vilar's business is reportedly in financial trouble and the man himself is facing allegations of fraud in the United States. In fact CNN reported in May that Mr Vilar was incarcerated in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York as he was unable to pay the US$10 million bond to secure bail. It therefore seems unlikely that he will be making the additional payments to the ROH slush fund. His current whereabouts could not easily be determined.

ROH is known to the general public as the home of the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera. They are known to the arts world for spending staggering amounts of money, none of which is their own, on producing nothing that is of much interest to the vast majority of people in the UK.