#art-fraud

#art-fraud

Federal prosecutors stated that Erwin Bankowski and Karolina Bankowska commissioned an artist in Poland to create at least 200 forgeries, defrauding buyers of at least $2 million.

Hall presented the work at that year's Tefaf Maastricht fair with an asking price of $650,000. It did not sell, but remained on display at Nicholas Hall Gallery while they continued to seek a buyer-at which point Matthiesen was contacted by Doyle. Over the next several years, Doyle and Matthiesen communicated electronically regarding Doyle's purported art dealings; the con artist claimed to manage the "art side" of a family trust with assets worth billions of dollars, investigators stated.

A man in Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 60 days in prison for selling forged works that he falsely claimed were by Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and other blue-chip artists. Carter Reese pleaded guilty in May to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, admitting that between February 2019 and March 2021, he knowingly sold and attempted to sell counterfeit works.