An auction of American art at Christie’s New York has led to a tangle of lawsuits, accusations of market manipulation against Berry-Hill Galleries, a Manhattan art dealership, and light shed on questionable practices by credit hedge funds.

The Hill family, who own Berry-Hill, were accused by Christie’s in its legal action of allying with one of their lenders to bid against themselves for the artwork in the auction in May 2005. The alleged intent was to create artificially high prices for their artwork, so they could increase their profits from subsequent resales. After the auction, when Christie’s learned of the bidding irregularity, it had to “cancel and rescind” the sale of 22 lots.